Fidelity
by RoseDawson35
Summary: "So no sex at your place then? How disappointing." At this she nearly spit out her coffee. "No!" She exclaimed, her face turning a bright shade of pink. "I mean I've never…" AU. AxelxOC T for language and sexual content.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: I know, I'm awful. I still haven't even finished my first story. I hope you guys like it anyway. Just something a little different. :) **

_This. Blows. _These were Axel's main thoughts as he stared at his computer screen, with no clue of what to do next. Xemnas had asked him to…God, he couldn't even remember what. It wasn't his fault his boss was a total asshole and he tended to block out things he didn't want to hear. Needless to say, he hated his job. This was not what he had pictured when he'd decided he wanted to work for a magazine.

"Hey, uh Axel?" a man with a mullet poked his head into Axel's cubicle.

"What Demyx?" The red haired man groaned, running his hands over his face.

"Xemnas called a meeting just now, thought you should know."

"Awesome." Reluctantly, he got up from his chair and followed Demyx into the conference room where Xemnas and the other twelve 'main' employees were sitting. Axel noticed his best friend sitting by himself and quickly plopped into the seat next to him.

"Hey Axel," the younger boy greeted. "You get anything done?"

"What do you think, Roxas?" Axel chuckled, shaking his head. Roxas laughed, but before he even had the chance to respond, Xemnas interrupted.

"As you all know," he clasped his hands together. "We have a new operative joining us today."

_How did I not know about this?_

"This is Sarah, our new secretary." Right on cue, a young woman sitting next to Xemnas stood up.

_And how the hell did I miss that? _The redhead thought as her pale pink lips curved into a nice smile that caused her bright blue eyes to light up. After he'd noticed she had a pretty face, his eyes moved on to…well, other things. Her outfit, for instance, accented her small curves nicely, with her white blouse that clung in the right places, and a skirt that showed off a pair of killer legs. She didn't have anything to say though, and sat back down, running her fingers through her long, brown hair.

_I wouldn't mind getting a piece of that. _However, the plan formulating in Axel's mind was cut short by Xigbar.

"What happened to Judy?"

"She quit, last month." Xemnas looked down, clearing his throat in a signal to not bring it up in front of this new worker. He didn't want to scare her off before she even started.

"Oh that's right," Luxord spoke up, taking a sip of his tea. "Sexual harassment, wasn't it?" As Axel watched for Sarah's reaction, her eyes didn't grow wide like he thought they would, she only smirked knowingly and leaned back in her chair.

"Well, that's all then," Xemnas quickly said before anyone else could go into further detail. "Feel free to introduce yourself to Sarah and make her familiar with our building." The crowd of people began to disperse, some of them heading back to work, but most spoke a few words to the girl before doing so.

"So, Axel, you've been staring at her for a while…" Roxas pointed out to his friend.

"Huh?" Had he?

"Don't tell me you're planning on making her one of your next victims."

(By victim, Roxas meant another woman Axel would seduce until he got bored and leave her heart broken.)

"Victims? I'm wounded Roxas," he grinned, placing a hand to his heart feigning hurt, but it quickly faded when he noticed Demyx talking to Sarah, who was smiling and laughing as if they'd known each other for ages.

"Oh, hell no."


	2. Chapter 2

**I know I uploaded the first chapter yesterday, but I've got like six written already, and I'm on a roll. so enjoy, and I would REALLY appreciate it if you would review. Thanks. :) **

Here they were, in the copy room, and he had no idea what to say to her.

"Hey," he finally said, causing her to face him. She was quite a bit shorter than he was, but it was something that made her seem even cuter to him.

A simple, "Hi," was her response and she continued to make copies like they hadn't even said anything to each other. Axel frowned. Most women would be swooning over the fact he'd even said a word to them, but she wasn't, for some reason. And then, there it was, his last copy complete, staring him right in the face as a reminder he had no other reason to be in the room.

"Are you…gonna get that?" she asked, noticing him making an odd face at the piece of paper.

"Oh, yeah." Awkwardly, he picked up the copies he made and headed back to his cubicle, but not before he ran into Demyx.

"Hey, Axel," he greeted, continuing to walk on his way.

"Demyx." Axel quickly set down the papers and grabbed the other man by the collar before he could escape.

"Pleasedon'thurtme!" Demyx quickly spit out, but Axel only rolled his eyes and let go of him.

"How the hell did you get her to talk to you like that?" the redhead lowered his voice, making sure no one else could hear him.

"You mean Sarah?" Axel nodded in reply. "Well, first of all, I didn't do anything like you just did to her." This earned him a cold glare. Demyx didn't seem to notice and went back into thought.

"It was kind of like this: I said, 'hey it's cool that you're gonna be working for us, I'm Demyx!' And then…" he paused for a moment to clear his throat before using a high pitched voice to imitate Sarah, even adding in feminine body language. "'Oh, thanks! So what do you do?' And then I was all 'oh yeah, I'm the photographer and-"

"Look, Demyx," Axel cut him off. "I get the point."

"Hey, I'm just trying to help you out with your people skills since you obviously—" Demyx quickly stopped himself as he noticed Axel was giving him another death glare. "…Don't need my help with that! See you later Axel!" And with that, he sped off, leaving Axel being just as confused as when he started.

Feeling as though he'd gotten nowhere, Axel headed back to his cramped cubicle to finally get something accomplished.


	3. Chapter 3

Axel had never been so mentally exhausted in his life. When he finally figured out what his boss had wanted him to do, he stayed at work to get it done, which ended up being much longer than he planned. He knew if he didn't though, he'd get behind again and Xemnas would probably kill him for it. (It was a frequent thing).

_11 PM? Damn, and to think I'll be back here in another seven hours…_

He wasn't too big on the idea of coming back to write another article, after he'd spent so long on this one. Then again, he probably wouldn't have to if he didn't procrastinate so much, but it's hard to focus when you have 'important' things on your mind like how to get into the new secretary's pants.

"_Well maybe I think you're cute and funny...__" _Axel suddenly broke out into a grin, realizing that could only be one person. There were only two women working here at the moment, and Larxene would never sing or stay late after work. He sat and listened to her for a little while, noticing that she wasn't bad at all. However, he felt the need to interrupt her serenade.

"_Maybe I want to do what bunnies do with you if you know what I mean...__"_

"And what exactly is it that bunnies do?" He smirked as she turned around, startled at the fact there was another person in the room.

"Oh, uh, I didn't think anyone was still here…" she blushed, her face almost the color of Axel's hair.

"I didn't either, to be honest. What are you doing still here?"

"I was just taking care of a few last minute things," she told him, going back to…whatever it was she was doing.

"Last minute things?" he raised an eyebrow. "You could have left three hours ago, I hardly think this is last minute. What have you been doing, cleaning the whole damn building?" He laughed when she blushed again.

"Not the whole thing…" she muttered. "Look, this is my first 'real' job I've had in a while, and I want to work hard so I can actually get somewhere with it."

"Admirable," he commented, a little impressed. "But eventually, you'll be like me and won't want to get anything done." He flashed her a grin, causing her to smirk right back at him.

"Maybe, but unlike you, I have somewhat of a work ethic."

"Ouch." He liked that she had a bit of an edge to her, but not too much of one. It made her a little more interesting. Sure, hot girls were nice, but ones that were smart were definitely a plus.

"So, isn't your husband or boyfriend or...girlfriend," he paused for a moment, the idea of her having a girlfriend was pretty sexy but also disappointing. "waiting for you at home or something?" he finished, hoping this was a good way to get her relationship status out of her.

"Oh, no, I'm single actually," she looked at the floor as she said this, like it was something she didn't want to admit. She also muttered something about not being a lesbian.

"Really?" Inwardly, Axel was cheering. "That's surprising."

"What do you mean?"

"You're pretty attractive, is what I'm saying." She smiled at his compliment, and when she did, he realized just how true his statement was.

"So, _Don Juan_," she said, looking amused at his flirtatiousness. "I don't think I ever got your name."

"It's Axel," he chuckled, extending his hand to her.

"I'm Sarah, but I guess you already knew that," she told him, giving him a firm hand shake. At the contact, Axel felt as though electric currents were shooting through his arm, something that didn't happen very often.

"Do you have a way to get home?" he asked her, trying to find another way to spend more time with her.

"Yeah, I take the subway," she answered, picking her purse up off her desk as a sign she was leaving.

"You know, I could drive you home, if you wanted," he said casually, leaning against the wall. "It's a little late for a pretty girl like you to be out alone."

"You…really wouldn't mind?" She asked, biting her lip.

"Of course not. And you can pay me back later." He winked at her, and she only smiled widely.

"Thank you."

X.x.X.x.X.x.X

"It's right here," she told him, pointing to a small house. Axel was a little disappointed that she didn't live very far from their workplace. He enjoyed talking to her on the way and hearing her giggle when he said something stupid.

"You…have a car?" he asked, slightly confused as he pulled over in front of the house.

"Yeah, but my little brother uses it a lot, so I don't usually get to."

He was wondering how this worked, but a gentle touch on his arm suddenly snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Thank you again." Before he even had the chance to respond, she was leaning up towards him, placing a kiss on his cheek and something else in his hand. "There's your payment." She smirked before getting out of the car, leaving Axel sitting alone in the driver's seat, smiling to himself as he read the piece of paper she'd put in his hand. Seven digits. This was going a lot better than he thought it would.


	4. Chapter 4

**Well, here you are. I'm sorry this is the shortest chapter yet, but I promise they'll get longer. :P Anyway, if you are reading, enjoy, and if you're new, then hi. :D don't be afraid to review...seriously. don't.**

"What are you so happy about?" Roxas asked his best friend, who had come into work looking rather chipper.

"Oh, nothing big you know…I just got her number last night," Axel said with a grin.

"Nice!" The younger boy high fived him.

"And she kissed me on the cheek."

"Wait…" Roxas frowned. "People still…do that?"

"Well, yeah I mean it's—"

"Good morning," Sarah greeted as she walked toward the two .

"Morning Sarah," Roxas replied. She ruffled his hair in return and began walking away, but not before waving at Axel and throwing a coy smile in his direction. He waved back, astounded at the fact that the somewhat shy girl he'd met the day before had suddenly become so flirty.

"As weird as this sounds," Roxas rubbed the back of his neck. "I think she's into you."

"Well, that makes things a hell of a lot easier," Axel grinned widely.

"Hey, look don't…break her, Axel."

"Don't worry, I'll be gentle," he chuckled.

"No, I'm being serious."

"Why do you care? " Axel scoffed.

"I'm her cousin," Roxas said, crossing his arms.

"What? Roxas, what the fuck?"

Instead of replying, Roxas only shrugged and headed off to his cubicle, leaving Axel no other choice but to go to his. He sat down at his desk, while he should have been working, he only replayed Roxas' words in his head. _Don't break her. _

What was that supposed to mean? He knew that he'd hurt girls before, but he didn't think relationships were meant to be taken seriously, which is why he didn't understand why people got married. It was silly really, you'd be tied down to one person for the rest of your life, and that was boring. Half the time marriages only ended in divorce anyway.

So there was nothing to worry about. She was cute, they could mess around for a while, then he could find someone else. It was better when there weren't messy things like feelings involved anyway…right?

Axel suddenly felt very lonely at the realization that he'd never been in love or told anyone he loved them, not even his parents. But love was one of those things he wasn't sure even existed. It was in those Disney movies and romantic comedies, but that wasn't the way life worked. He learned that when his parents divorced when he was young. After watching their marriage fall apart, it was hard to believe that people could find true love that lasted.

And he wasn't going to start believing any time soon.


	5. Chapter 5

**Okidoke, here goes. Enjoy, and review please. :) **

Sarah had been working at the company for a few weeks now, and Axel was frequently in touch with her, plenty of flirting included. He finally asked her to grab some coffee with him on the weekend. It wasn't officially a date; it was more of an outing. And if he wanted to get out of the friend zone, he was going to have to make a move soon.

"So then," Axel said as he sipped his coffee. It was still too hot and stung a little, but since they were here, he might as well drink it. "You live with your brother? How well does that work?" he wished he had waited now, he burned his tongue. _Looks like I won't get to use that for a while. _

"Pretty good actually," Sarah told him, also taking a tiny sip. "Dammit, this coffee is too hot." This "date" was proving to be unsuccessful. Time to pull something stupid.

"So no sex at your place then? How disappointing." At this she nearly spit out her coffee.

"No!" She exclaimed, her face turning a bright shade of pink. "I mean I've never…" she didn't finish, staring into her coffee cup, shifting in her seat uncomfortably.

"Whoa. _What?_" Now, he was intrigued.

"Um…you know…" the blush on her cheeks hadn't faded and she still wouldn't look at him.

"So you're still a virgin? How old are you, exactly?" Damn. He'd never been with a virgin before. And that made her all the more appealing.

"Twenty."

"Haha, you're like four years younger than I am. I lost mine when I was—"

"I don't want to know when you lost your virginity, Casanova," she cut him off, smirking. "But I'm sure it was much sooner than it should have been."

"How'd you guess?" he grinned back.

"I just have a way of knowing these things," she laughed, taking another sip of her coffee. "Shit! I burned my tongue."

"Want me to kiss it and make it better?" he raised his eyebrows suggestively. His was burned too, but he didn't really care at this point.

"You are too much," she rolled her eyes. "I say we ditch this coffee though and go do something else."

"So…is that a yes?"

"That's a maybe. But we have to do something fun first." He could wait a few minutes.

"You wanna go for a walk then?"

"Sure," she smiled. _Fuck, she's beautiful. _And as they walked along the city streets, he was hardly paying attention to anything she said, just the facial expressions she made and how she would smile a little when she talked about certain things. At some point, he stopped walking and it took her a moment to notice he did.

"What are you doing?" she giggled, walking back over to him. He looked down at her for a moment, once again, her short height making her even cuter than she already was.

"You're adorable," he murmured, leaning down to bring his lips to hers. Kissing her was even better than he'd imagined. Her lips were incredibly soft and still tasted faintly of vanilla cappuccino, and instead of pushing him away, she stood on her tiptoes to reach him, pressing back lightly against his mouth.

After they pulled away, she looked at him with a pleased expression.

"Did you like that?" he whispered. She only bit her lip, nodding as she did. Oh the things he would have done to her if they hadn't been standing in public. There were already people watching. Older people with disapproving glances, young girls with dreamy looks in their eyes and others whispering and pointing. He paid no mind to it though and wrapped an arm around her waist, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"You know what I think?" he was whispering in her ear again.

"What?" she replied, smiling up at him.

"I think that those people," he pointed to the ones that were still staring. "Are jealous that I have a beautiful girlfriend, and they don't."

She suddenly broke out into a grin, giving him another peck on the lips.

"So, is that a yes then?" he laughed as she only nodded.

And he couldn't help but notice that she seemed so much happier when they walked with his hand in hers.


	6. Chapter 6

**Well...this one is super short too...I promise I've written longer (and better, cough cough) chapters than this though. But this was obligatory sooo...enjoy I guess? I'll try to update next week. Leave a review please. :) **

"Demyx," Sarah's words were coming out in a rush, she'd never been so exhilarated in her life. "Demyx I've never been so happy before."

"Really?" Demyx smiled from the other end of the line, he was glad his new friend was doing well. "What's up?"

"Well," Sarah flopped down on the couch, twirling a strand of hair around her finger. "As of today, Axel and I are dating." She giggled, kicking her feet against the couch cushions.

Hearing this, Demyx's cheerful expression faltered.

"I thought we talked about this," the dark blonde said, running his hands through his mullet.

"Yeah but," she shifted on the couch, still smiling as she did. "He's so sweet to me."

"He just acts like he is so he can get in your pants." Demyx heard a long sigh laced with irritation.

"And how do you know this, Demyx?"

"Because," he replied. "I've known him a lot longer than you have and I know what kind of person he is and what he does to girls."

"Just give me time," she pleaded. "I'll know if he's a total douche and if I need to call it quits. I'm just so happy right now and I really want this to work."

"Alright," he sighed. "Just…be careful okay? And remember that I'm always here when you need me."

"Thanks Demyx." The smile returned to her voice again, she was lucky to have a friend that cared so much. "I think I'm gonna go to sleep though, so I'll see you tomorrow."

"Later," was the last thing she heard before hanging up the phone.

She really was going to go to sleep, but the thing was, she couldn't. As she lay in her bed, staring up at the ceiling, she replayed the day's events over again in her head. How he had kissed her, and how amazing it felt. His innuendoes that made her blush profusely…that was another thing entirely.

She started to wonder if _that_ was something she would end up doing with him. But such a thing as sex was not meant to be thrown around, in her opinion, and she wasn't just going to give it to him because they were dating. She supposed though, that if they both wanted to, they would and it was as simple as that.

_What am I doing? _She thought, somewhat embarrassed that she was even thinking about such a thing. _We just started dating today, I don't even know where this is headed. _

Relationships sure were complicated, but she really hoped that this one would be worth it.


	7. Chapter 7

**Okay, uhh here's where the "Sexual themes" come into play...don't worry, it's pretty tame (because I chickened out) and there's not going to be any graphic sex anywhere in this story so enjoy while I feel a little embarrassed about all this. Oh, and review please. :D **

They had been dating for a while now, and Axel was beginning to get very _frustrated. _ He had taken Sarah back to his apartment several times, hoping to get what he wanted, but instead he was given quite the opposite. They'd be on the couch, the floor, or even his own damn bed, but when the breathing became heavy and Axel's hands began to wander, she'd say something like, "Not tonight," and either leave or go back to making out with him. He found that the latter seemed to be much worse for him.

That was probably why he wanted her so badly. She was so unattainable. Most women had given it up so easily to him. But Axel loved the thrill of a chase and was willing to do it for her.

"Sarah looks pretty hot today," Xigbar commented as he and Axel stood by the coffee machine. Axel shot him a glare and he only chuckled in response. "I'm just sayin'." He was right though, her skirt seemed to be tighter and shorter than usual and her shirt revealed a small amount of cleavage, still leaving quite a bit to the imagination. "So, have you hit that yet?" Axel decided a reply wasn't needed for this question and stared straight ahead, taking a sip of his bitter coffee. Xigbar understood and laughed, muttering, "sucks to be you, man," as he sauntered off, most likely not to work.

Xigbar's statement could not have been any truer, because she was very distracting. He couldn't concentrate worth shit every time she would walk by his cubicle and he found himself leaning back in his chair to watch her walk away, her hips swaying with every step as she did. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore so the next time she passed by him, he grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her into the conference room.

"Axel, what are you—" He cut her off by pressing his lips to hers, wrapping his arms around her waist. He picked her up and set her down on the table, somehow still kissing her all the while. His kisses gradually became more rough and lustful and she had to pull away several times to catch her breath.

"Axel, we can't—"

"Relax, no one's going to come in here," he assured her before lowering his mouth to her neck, inducing a gasp from the girl beneath him as he nipped and sucked at her skin, no doubt leaving a mark that she'd have to pass off as a burn from the curling iron she never used. This time, she didn't object when his hands disappeared under her shirt. He took his time though, enjoying the feel of her bare skin on his hands, slowly tracing every curve of her body up to her chest. His touch lingered there for a moment before he pulled her shirt over her head. He captured her lips with his own again, and pretty soon, tongues were involved, along with a lot of desperate grabbing. Axel's desire was quickly growing as Sarah began unbuttoning his shirt, placing several kisses along his jaw-line as she did. Fuck, he didn't even need to take off her skirt, he decided. But before he could even pull his pants down, much to the two's horror, the door opened, revealing an uncomfortable looking Zexion and a rather stunned Vexen. There was an awkward silence that hung in the air for what seemed like an eternity as both pairs stared at each other with wide eyes, but Vexen finally broke it. "I suggest you two put your clothes back on, there's a meeting in five minutes. You had better be glad Xemnas didn't find you first." And with that, Vexen slammed the door shut. Embarrassed, Sarah hurriedly put her shirt back on and helped Axel with his, even though he didn't really need it. After looking up at him for a moment and down at his pants, she quickly burst into giggles, resting her forehead against his chest. He chuckled as well, though this was hardly funny. As other people soon began to file in, the pair took a seat next to each other. Axel had to cross his legs in an attempt to uncomfortably hide the tent he'd pitched in his pants while Sarah smoothed down her disheveled hair. He wasn't even paying attention to what Xemnas was talking about, and he could tell she wasn't either with the way she kept looking over at him, smiling and covering her mouth with her hand to keep from laughing. It was also increasingly difficult to concentrate as her hand grazed his knee every now and then. From across the table, Roxas threw Axel a questioning glance while Xigbar nodded knowingly, mouthing _get some_ to Axel. How he figured it out, he wasn't sure, but Axel ignored Xigbar's crude gestures, silently promising Roxas he would tell him later.

He waited for everyone else to begin leaving once the meeting was over before pulling Sarah aside.

"You know, if you're up for it, we can finish what we started later at my place," he whispered seductively in her ear.

"Sounds great," she replied, grabbing his tie and pulling him in for a quick kiss.

* * *

><p>Somehow, this was even more embarrassing to explain to Roxas. Axel knew he was eighteen and all, but it just felt wrong.<p>

"So uh…Sarah and I were kinda…making out in the conference room and things got a little uh…y'know…and then we were only half dressed and I forgot there was a meeting today and Vexen and Zexion walked in on us." Axel's words were a little rushed in an attempt to get the story over with.

"Gross," Roxas crinkled his nose in disgust. "I do not want to hear about you doing it with my cousin."

"You asked," Axel said, rubbing the back of his neck. "And we didn't even…" he trailed off, clearing his throat awkwardly.

"Wait, you…_didn't_ actually get any?" Roxas stifled a laugh.

"No…"

At this, Roxas burst out laughing, but quickly stopped after seeing Axel's rather scary expression.

"Sorry," he apologized. "I shouldn't laugh, but that's kinda…"

"I know. God damn it." That seemed to be his catch phrase of the day. "Roxas, I haven't had sex in so long and I'm so horny all the time." As soon as he said it, he wished he hadn't.

"Well Axel, I had no idea you felt that way about me. Better not tell Sarah."

"That's not what I—wait, are you trying to tell me something? I mean you're my best friend so that doesn't really matter to me but..."

"Shit, Axel, I was kidding," Roxas said with a laugh. "I have a girlfriend."

"Really? Is she cute?"

"Yeah, she's really cute. Her name's Naminé."

"Have you guys—"

"Oh my God! Is that all you ever think about?"


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello again! :D It's been a while, but here is chapter 8. It's a tad shorter than the last one, but the next one is super long, so there's something to look forward to I guess. haha. Anyway. Enjoy and review please! :)**

"Good morning," Sarah greeted with a smile as she walked into Axel's small kitchen. She was wearing one of his T-shirts, which was just large enough on her to cover everything up. Axel wondered if she was wearing anything underneath.

"More like good afternoon," he chuckled, giving her a light kiss. He grinned as her expression became panicked.

"It's Saturday," he reminded her, ruffling her hair. "You look pretty sexy in that, by the way," he commented before turning back to the stove.

"Sure," she said, raising an eyebrow. "What are you making?"

"Ramen," he replied, stirring the boiling pot of noodles.

"So you don't know how to cook real food then?" she smirked.

"Nope," he told her with a broad smile. "Do you? Because if you can do better than this shit, be my guest."

"You're out of luck then, I can't cook either," she giggled.

"How about we do something else then," he said coyly, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"But Axel, we just—"

"Practice makes perfect," he said in a sing song voice, nuzzling her neck. Honestly though, he had enjoyed the previous night thoroughly and wouldn't mind a repeat performance. And with the way she was screaming his name, he was pretty sure she enjoyed it too.

"You're going to burn the noodles," she laughed.

"Alright, later then," he told her with a wink, turning off the stove.

"I used to live off of these in college," Sarah told him as she twirled some noodles around her fork, blowing on them to cool them off.

"I still do," Axel said before taking a bite. He made a face. Shrimp was definitely not as good as the beef or chicken flavors, but it was all he had around the house. He noticed she didn't really like it either, but continued to eat it, in an attempt to be polite, he guessed.

"You know, if you don't like that, you don't have to eat it. Won't hurt my feelings. Hell, I think this pretty disgusting myself."

"Sorry," she set down her fork and pushed her bowl aside.

"No big deal," he grinned, pushing his bowl away as well. They both rested their chin in their arms, smiling at each other from across the table in a comfortable silence.

"When do you want me to leave?" she asked him. "I don't want you to get sick of me."

"Believe me, I won't," he said, rising from his seat to walk over to her. He placed one hand on the table and the other on the back of her chair and leaned down so that his nose brushed against hers. He smirked as she giggled, reaching up to touch his face.

"You are full of it," she whispered with a smile.

"I know," he replied, pressing his lips against hers. Before either of them knew what was happening, they were on the kitchen floor, with Axel kneeling over Sarah, each of their mouths preoccupied by the other's.

"Please tell me you did not bring home another whore. You know I can't stand them," a girlish voice interrupted their rather intimate moment.

"Holy shit!" Axel exclaimed, causing Sarah to jump beneath him. "Rachel, when did you get here?" he quickly got up off the floor.

"About five minutes ago, you really shouldn't leave the door unlocked." Sarah looked up to see the woman Axel was speaking to. She looked a lot like him with emerald eyes and fiery red hair.

"You could just knock like a normal person next time," Axel grumbled. He was getting rather irritated with people walking in on them in the middle of a make out session.

"You're my brother, I shouldn't have to," she said with a grin. "And now you know to lock it. See? I saved you from potential serial killers." Axel rolled his eyes, shaking his head at his sister's ridiculous conclusion.

"Rachel, this is Sarah," he said, helping her up from the floor. He slid an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him protectively. "My _girlfriend._"

"Oh, you must be something pretty special then," she commented. "He doesn't even make it official with most girls. Congrats." She shook Sarah's hand, who was very confused and embarrassed at the moment. What an awkward way to meet Axel's sister, especially in nothing but his T-shirt.

"Um…thanks….I think."

"You're welcome!" Sarah's hesitance didn't seem to faze her at all.

"Look. This is nice and all," the sarcasm was practically dripping from Axel's voice. "But why are you here?" _And now, of all times you could have picked. _

"You," she pointed at him. "Borrowed money from me two months ago, and never paid me back."

"Well, why do you need it now?"

"I'm going to a party tonight and I need new shoes."

"What for? What's wrong with those shoes?"

"They don't go with my dress."

Sarah was rather amused just watching the two argue. Eventually, Axel gave up and handed over the money reluctantly.

"Hey, you wanna come with me tonight?" Rachel suddenly asked Sarah before she left.

"Uh well…"

"Trust me, I'm more fun to be around than him," she smirked, jerking her thumb in Axel's direction. He was about to object, but before he could, Rachel grabbed Sarah's arm. "Yeah, let's just go."

"Wait! I have to put clothes on!" Axel could hear Sarah's cries of protest even after Rachel shut the door. He figured he must have done something right though, if his sister of all people, approved of his girlfriend.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello again! :D This chapter is quite a bit longer than the others, so I hope you enjoy it! School is starting for me soon, so "official" (I use that term as loosely as possible haha) update days will be Saturdays. So keep an eye out every Saturday, and if I don't post, well, you can kick me or something. So anyway, here we go! Read and review please. :) **

"How about this one?" Rachel asked, pulling out a short red dress that Sarah hardly ever wore—except for occasions like this. Rachel was already dressed and ready to go, and Sarah felt as though she'd be put to shame no matter what she wore. She was beautiful, much like her brother was, and one couldn't help but notice. As Rachel left the room for Sarah to change, she mulled over how odd this entire situation was. Axel's sister was rather bizarre and very bold, much bolder than she would ever dare to be. But still, she had agreed to go partying with the girl that she barely knew, probably because in a strange way, this girl somehow drew others to her.

Sarah was glad she owned several pairs of high heels that added to her height a little bit, maybe now she could pass for the drinking age, she thought as she pulled on a pair of black ones. She stared at herself in the mirror for a moment, briefly letting her mind wander to her boyfriend, wondering if he'd find her attractive in this dress. Deciding that she was ready as she would ever be, she emerged from her room, feeling slightly uncomfortable under Rachel's stare.

"It still needs something," she murmured to herself. Her expression suddenly became cheerful as she exclaimed, "Oh! I know!" Before Sarah knew it, Rachel was dragging her to the bathroom.

"I'm sorry, I just don't have very many girls to hang out with," Rachel apologized as she applied Sarah's eye makeup. "I never had a sister, and while Axel is pretty girly, it isn't exactly the same thing." Rachel grinned as Sarah giggled at her little joke.

"Okay, now do this." Rachel flipped her hair forward and back up again, giving it more volume.

"Perfect!" She said after Sarah complied. "Let's go."

"So…where are we going?" Sarah inquired, briefly observing her reflection in the vanity mirror on the passenger's side. She could barely recognize herself. Not in a bad way—Rachel had done a good job with her makeup, but with that smoky eye look, she looked more like a seductress, something she probably shouldn't go for, since she was taken.

"The bar, a few people I know will be there," Rachel replied. She scrunched her brow as someone pulled out at the stoplight when she was supposed to go. "Jackass…" she muttered.

"The bar?" Sarah repeated incredulously. "And how old are you?"

"Old enough to buy us drinks," she replied with devilish grin. "And if you're not, I can get around that."

"Works for me…" she shrugged. She may not have been of age yet, but she was close enough. A few more months and she would be twenty one. She'd had drinks before, in high school, but mostly college. That was quite a while ago, and she wasn't sure she could stomach as much alcohol as she used to, and even that wasn't very much at all.

'A few people' had pretty much been the understatement of the year. Sarah had been expecting two or three, but there had to be at least twenty people there that Rachel supposedly knew, maybe more. Most of which were guys that offered to buy both of the girls drink after a bit of coaxing from Rachel. Maybe she wouldn't have to spend any of her money after all.

"So how long have you and Axel been dating?" Rachel asked, leaning against the counter.

"A little over a month," Sarah answered before taking a sip of…whatever it was. She sincerely hoped that Rachel hung out with guys who weren't creepy enough to slip something in it.

"Huh," Rachel marveled, downing her glass. "That's a first."

"What do you mean?" Sarah glanced down at her glass to find that hers was also gone. She wasn't sure when it had happened.

"Look, I love my brother but," Rachel paused, trying to piece her words together carefully. "He's a hump and ditch kinda guy when it comes to most girls. I don't even know how the saying actually goes…shit, whatever. Terra!" Upon hearing his name, a rather attractive brunette man approached the two of them, and Rachel quickly hid their glasses elsewhere. She murmured something flirtatiously in his ear to which he nodded and came back with two glasses of brightly colored liquid.

"That's what most people tell me," Sarah mumbled in response to what Rachel had said earlier.

"You aren't very smart, are you?" Rachel laughed, taking a sip of her drink. "Ignoring what other people tell you…"

"I guess not." But she figured that's what came from being young and reckless…weren't most people at this age? It was certainly clear that Rachel was. Or maybe she was just becoming delusional with the alcohol seeping into her blood system. She couldn't remember how many drinks she had, but it couldn't have been many.

"Who," Rachel began, her words starting to come out a little sloppy, an indication she needed to stop drinking, since she would be the one driving them home. "Is that?" She pointed across the bar at a tall, pink haired man that Sarah recognized from work.

"Oh, him? That's Marluxia, he works with me and Axel."

"Marluxia…" Rachel repeated. "Well, just because you can't hit on other guys doesn't mean I won't." And with that, she strode confidently over to the taller man, and Sarah had no doubt Rachel would win him over.

"Hey there," a masculine voice greeted her, and it took her a moment to realize someone was actually talking to her. She turned to face the owner of the voice, another attractive male with long silver hair that looked so soft and shiny that Sarah was almost jealous. But none of that mattered to her, why should it? After all, she had someone just as, if not more attractive than the guy standing beside her.

"Hey," she replied politely, swirling the contents of her glass.

"Care for another drink?" he asked.

"No thanks, I think I've had enough," she told him, drinking what was left in the glass. She frowned, her head was starting to hurt and she could have sworn the man she was talking to had a twin.

"Alright. What's your name then, gorgeous?" He flashed a rather dangerous smile at her, and she didn't like it very much.

"Sarah," she said, clutching the bar stool for support. _Since when was it so easy for me to become intoxicated? _

"I'm Sephiroth, you're a friend of Rachel's right?" She wasn't quite sure if she could be considered that yet, but she nodded anyway. "I wonder what else we have in common." Suddenly he was much too close to her for her own liking.

"I have a boyfriend, so not much, unless you happen to be gay." Obviously he wasn't, as he stepped away after her statement. "Oh," was all he had to say about that.

"Well if that doesn't work out, you can always come talk to me," he said with a wink. _In your dreams…and my nightmares._

"Wait," she slurred as he began walking away. "What conditioner do you use? Your hair is so…" She trailed off, reaching for it as the man laughed, in a rather creepy way.

"I'm glad I didn't buy you another drink," he chuckled. "Hey, Rachel!" Sarah looked in the direction where he had called to find that Rachel was busy flirting with Marluxia, leaning up against him, which the pink haired man didn't seem to mind at all. She stopped for a moment, said something to him and shoved a piece of paper in his hand.

"Your friend here is pretty drunk, you should probably get her home," Sephiroth told her after she approached the two of them.

"Thanks," she said, looking a bit concerned for Sarah. She put an arm around her shoulders to steady her as she stumbled out of the bar.

"We're back," Rachel called, walking into Axel's apartment.

"We're?" Axel replied in a confused tone. "Oh." Rachel gave Sarah a light push, sending her stumbling into him.

"Hey sexy," she giggled, sloppily throwing her arms around him. "Come here often?"

Axel raised his eyebrows. "How many drinks did she have?"

"As far as I know, two," Rachel answered.

"Someone's a weak drinker," he commented, looking down at his heavily intoxicated girlfriend.

"I love you," she suddenly slurred. Axel froze, hoping he had just misheard her. For one thing it had only been a month and for another thing—

"Don't worry, she's been saying that to everyone," Rachel told him. "And she was saying it the whole ride home too." Axel breathed a sigh of relief.

"You really have had too much to drink," he murmured to her.

"Well…I think I'm going home," Rachel said. "When she's sober, you can tell her we'll hang out again…somewhere that doesn't involve alcohol."

"What am I gonna do with you?" he grinned at her after Rachel had left. He decided to let her stay another night, he didn't mind, and who knew what she would do in her current state.

"I dunno," came her muffled response from Axel's shirt. "Hey..." she perked up at the sound of music coming from the kitchen. Axel had forgotten he had left the radio on.

"I love this song!" She exclaimed. And suddenly, she was dancing _very_ provocatively on him, but not quite on beat. Just as abruptly as she started, she stopped, grasping his face in her hands, causing his cheeks to squeeze together in a comical manner.

"Take me here, right now," she announced dramatically, dropping her hands to his shoulders.

"I don't think so," he smirked. "You need to get some sleep."

"Why not?" she pouted.

"Because one," he picked her up in his arms, "I'm not going to take advantage of you like that."

"And two," he carried her down the hallway and into his room, carefully setting her down on the bed. "It wouldn't be any fun for me."

"Hey!" she shoved him lightly, giggling as her eyelids drifted closed. He grinned, giving her a peck on the lips.

"Goodnight," he said, only to find she had already fallen asleep.

_Figures,_ he thought, climbing into bed with her. But it took Axel quite a while to fall asleep. He knew it was just the alcohol talking when she told him she loved him, but what was he going to say when—_if _he quickly corrected himself, she actually said it and meant it? This was never a problem before, why was he worrying? He looked over at her sleeping form, wondering why he cared so much if he hurt her. He couldn't be getting attached, could he? No, he wouldn't let himself. But here he was, letting her stay another night with him for an entirely different reason than the previous one.

Axel groaned softly, running his hands over his face, and then through the tresses of brown hair spilled out on the pillows. He liked her, quite a bit, and he was afraid to let it escalate to anything more than that. He wasn't sure how one girl could screw with his thoughts and emotions so much without even trying.


	10. Chapter 10

**Well...feel free to kick me several times, I didn't intend to put this off for so long. I'm not exactly satisfied with the ending of this chapter, it doesn't really have a closure or anything. Anyway, enjoy, and I'll be better about updates...at least I'll try to be. Feel free to review :D**

"Good news and bad news," Sarah said as she approached Axel in the work lounge. "What do you want first?"

"Bad," he replied, flipping through the channels.

"Bad news is, we can't have sex until next week, but the good news is, I'm not pregnant," she grinned.

"Awesome," he laughed. "I can wait then. Just be ready for next week." Axel finished his statement with a wink, causing Sarah to roll her eyes as she took a seat next to him on the couch. He turned off the T.V. and turned his attention to her.

"So…what are we gonna do this weekend then?" Sarah crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow at him.

"I hope you aren't trying to tell me our relationship is entirely based on sex."

"Not entirely," he muttered.

"Asshole!" She laughed, giving him a playful shove."There are plenty of other things we can do."

"Like what?" he challenged.

"We could…make cookies."

_Cookies? What the hell? _

"I thought you said you couldn't cook," he grinned.

"I can't," she said simply, smiling at him only the way she would, the kind of smile he couldn't say no to.

"What do we do first?" Axel asked. He let her drag him in to this, but now he wasn't sure it was such a good idea. What if they burned down the apartment? He liked fire, but not _that_ much.

"Um…we need flour," Sarah said, reading off a piece of paper. Her hair was tied back in a loose braid, her bangs and a few of her layers still framing her face. It was hard for him to focus with how pretty she looked, but then again, she always did.

"Axel?" her voice brought him back to Earth again, and he remembered she had asked him to do something. Promptly, he dumped the required amount of flour into a bowl, causing residue to fly up and coat his face with the white powder. He blinked in surprise and Sarah was soon keeling over with laughter, much to Axel's dismay.

"You…you look like a clown," she managed to get out before laughing again. He had never seen her laugh so hard.

"Huh, thanks, I've always wanted to be as attractive as a clown," Axel said sarcastically.

"It's just the tattoos and your hair and—" the rest was lost in her half laugh-half cries. Deciding enough was enough, Axel took a handful of flour from the bag and threw it in Sarah's face.

"Now you look like Snow White," he grinned.

"That wasn't a very good insult," she commented, wiping the flour off her face, but she didn't quite get it all. "Wasn't Snow White the fairest of them all?" Well. Axel really didn't know his Disney. Or whoever started the story in the first place.

"Hey, she may have been, but she was dumb enough to eat a poisoned apple," he shrugged, to which Sarah quickly cracked an egg on his head. He stared at her incredulously for a moment before yelling, "You little shit!" Sarah only giggled as he chased her around the kitchen, throwing whatever ingredients he could find at her and vice versa. Eventually, the two became breathless and stopped, each of them laughing at how ridiculous the other looked. Axel's hair was drenched in egg yolk and Sarah's face was covered in flour and chocolate chips were tangled in her hair.

"So what have we gotten done?" Axel glanced at the recipe and down at the now empty bowl.

"Nothing," he replied, chuckling. They both made a truce, deciding if they were going to do this, they didn't need to throw things at each other. This didn't stop them, however when they had finished making the cookie dough.

"Okay," Sarah said when they had finally put the dough in the oven. "I guess we should clean ourselves up, huh?"

"Yeah, that look doesn't really work for you," Axel smirked.

"Shut up," she rolled her eyes, headed toward Axel's bathroom. He followed, laughing quietly behind her.

"Well, you got these in my hair, you get to get them out," she grinned pointing to the chocolate chips strewn throughout her hair. Axel sighed.

"Fine, but that means you get to wash this out."

"Deal," Sarah nodded, sitting down on the toilet seat while Axel stood behind her, attempting to get all of them out.

"You know, this would be a lot easier if your hair wasn't brown," Axel grumbled, somewhat frustrated that he was having trouble finding them. Sarah laughed, then retorted, "I should have no problems with yours then."

"Well, let's get started then, shall we?" Axel grinned.

"Lean back," she commanded after they had switched places. Axel did as he was told as she leaned over him, turning on the water.

"Now this, I can live with," he chuckled. Sarah rolled her eyes.

"Grow up, would you?" She began rinsing out his hair, running her fingers through it as she did. There was something strangely intimate about all of it; maybe it was how gentle she was with him, maybe it was the way that her fingers would accidentally brush his cheeks, or maybe it was the close proximity.

"This…is nice," Axel murmured as she rinsed the shampoo out of his hair. She smiled and turned off the water.

"I guess this is the part where you say something romantic and we make sweet love on the bathroom floor," she smirked, drying his hair off with a towel as she straddled his lap.

"That sounds even better," he said with a grin.

"Ah-ah, you're forgetting something," she teased, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I suppose I am." He wrapped his arms around her waist as well. "Top or bottom?" Sarah laughed, getting up from his lap.

"You are absolutely ridiculous, you know that?" she bent down so that she was eye level with him.

"And if I weren't, we wouldn't be together," Axel stated simply, looking pleased with himself.


	11. Chapter 11

**Okay, so I know I'm really bad about updating. haha. But I'm on summer break now, so I will do my best to update frequently. Even if I don't, I promise not to leave this one unfinished for four years. Anyway, enjoy and leave a review. c: **

It was a slow day at the office. No calls had been made, no one needed copies of anything; Xemnas hadn't even asked for any errands to be run, which left Sarah with absolutely nothing to do. And it was only...she glanced at the clock. 2 PM. She groaned as she realized it had been five minutes since she had checked. She laid her head down on her desk, closing her eyes as she listened to the rain pattering against the roof. _That's nice..._she thought as the soft sounds began to lull her to sleep.

* * *

><p>"Psst..."<p>

_What the hell? _She attempted to ignore the voice, though it was very persistent and sounded much closer.

"Hey," it whispered, and she was sure it was very near now. "Sarah..." slowly, she opened her eyes and found herself looking into Demyx's bright green ones.

"Aah!" she nearly fell backwards in her chair. "I wasn't...sleeping..."

"Yes you were, silly," Demyx grinned. "You've been out for almost an hour."

"I have?" he nodded. She really hadn't meant to. It wasn't her fault today was so boring. And it was Axel's for keeping her up so late all the time. She blushed at the memories and Demyx cocked his had to the side, raising an eyebrow in question.

"It's nothing," she quickly assured him. He shrugged and leaned up against her desk.

"Well anyway, I did come over here to wake you up, but hey, I miss you." She smiled.

"I miss you too." It had been a while since the two of them had done anything together outside of work.

"So..." a look of mischief crossed Demyx's features. "...judging from your nap, I'd say you're as bored as I am."

"You have no idea," she laughed, wondering what Demyx was up to.

"What do you say we ditch and go play in the rain?"

"Are you serious?" He nodded. "Demyx, it's 45 degrees outside."

"So?" he shrugged.

"If Xemnas catches us we'll—" Demyx cut her off, placing a finger over her lips.

"What are you so worried for?" he chuckled. "Come on, it'll be fun. Besides, I think we both could use a break." He extended his hand to her and Sarah sighed.

"Okay," she finally agreed, taking his hand as he smiled, pulling her up from her chair.

"Then let's go," he said with a devilish grin, taking her by the wrist and began tugging her along. The two friends cautiously made their way from the tenth floor down to the first, tiptoeing past cubicles and offices, suppressing their laughter until they had finally reached the front door after sprinting down the stairs.

"We made it," Sarah giggled, trying to catch her breath.

"Not quite," Demyx smirked and opened the door, shoving Sarah outside first. She had expected it to be cold, but she wasn't exactly prepared for it.

"You know," she shivered. "if I get pneumonia it's going to be your fault."

"You're cold?"

"You're not?" She didn't see how Demyx could withstand the biting wind and pouring rain.

"Come here." he held his arms open to her and she allowed him to embrace her. "Better?" Demyx grinned down at her.

"A little," she admitted. "But you're soaked too."

"Ah," he smiled. "Well, I think we can fix this." He guided her hand to his shoulder and took her other in his own, placing his free hand on her waist.

"What are you doing?" she giggled as Demyx began waltzing with her around the parking lot.

"We're dancing," he said simply, twirling her around before bringing her back to him. She really had missed him. She loved that he brought out the childish side in her, and she knew that she wouldn't even be outside had someone else asked her. After they finished, Demyx bowed and Sarah curtsied to humor him. She didn't notice how cold it was until they had stopped dancing.

"I really have missed you, you know that? Axel needs to learn to share." She laughed again, Demyx's joy was infectious.

"I'll let him know," she told him. Demyx smiled goofily at her before his tone suddenly shifted.

"Hey, he is...treating you right, isn't he?"

"Of course," she replied. "Why wouldn't he be?"

"I don't know..." Demyx hesitated, scratching the back of his neck. "I just wanted to make sure that everything was okay, I guess. I just..." he sighed.

"You just? Demyx, I thought you were alright with everything." Sarah was a little confused as to why he was worried about her all of a sudden, and she really didn't want to argue about Axel with him again.

"I am, I just really care about you and I want you to be happy." Sarah smiled, she really was lucky to have a best friend like him.

"Well, I am happy," she reassured him.

"Then I'm happy." Demyx put an arm around her shoulders and the two began walking back toward the building. Suddenly, he stopped, and Sarah gave him a questioning look. His only response was a mischievous grin before jumping, causing water to splash all over her from the puddle she had no idea they had been standing in.

"Demyx!" She shrieked, shoving him. He only laughed and splashed her again, and a water fight soon ensued. Finally, they agreed to go inside, and ran to escape the pouring rain. Breathless, they both leaned against the door laughing.

"Thank you, Demyx," Sarah managed, pushing her drenched hair out of her face.

"No problem," he grinned. They made their way back up the stairs and finally reached the tenth floor. But much to their horror, they didn't manage to make it past Xemnas.

"What do we do?" Sarah whispered frantically.

"Uh...act natural." Unfortunately, they couldn't pull this off and Xemnas glanced at them with a raised eyebrow.

"And what happened to the both of you?" he asked. His deep voice was naturally intimidating, Sarah noticed. Even if he wasn't angry.

"I uh..." Sarah coughed. "I left something in my car so I asked Demyx to go with me." She clearly did not have anything in her hands and immediately wished that she had come up with a better excuse.

"I see..." Xemnas's eyes narrowed briefly. "That explains the dancing." the pair looked at each other and Sarah blushed looking down at the floor. However, Xemnas didn't lecture them and only walked away with an amused smirk.

"Well that could have been...a lot worse," Demyx chuckled nervously.

"It could have been," she agreed. "Hey, we'll hang out again soon though, deal?" She offered her hand and Demyx shook it.

"Deal," he said with a smile. "Maybe not in the rain next time though." Sarah giggled, shaking her head.

"Maybe not."


	12. Chapter 12

**This chapter is pure fluff! You have been warned. :3 Enjoy and leave a review please, it is much appreciated. c:**

"I don't think I can make it to work today," Sarah spoke into the phone, coughing. "What? Oh...yeah, I know it's my fault." she wasn't really up for much conversation, especially not with Xemnas."Tomorrow?" she was pretty sure she had a fever and didn't know if it would be gone by the next day. "Maybe." Maybe was a good word. It was so non-committal. Maybe she would be at work, maybe she wouldn't be. "Okay, yes sir." she hung up the phone and tossed it off the bed instead of putting it back where it belonged. Her brother could take care of that later.

_Well, this is what I get for playing in the rain with Demyx. _She thought, sniffling. She could barely breathe through her nose, she was sweating a little, and overall she just felt...gross. At least she had the whole day to sleep.

* * *

><p>It was the first day that Sarah had missed work and Axel wasn't quite sure what to do with himself. Of course, she had sent him a text in the morning letting him know she wouldn't be there, so he was at least a little prepared. But it was still...weird. And boring. It was very boring. He still had Roxas, but he couldn't exactly <em>kiss<em> him or take him out to lunch. Well, he could, but it would be a little strange. Right on cue, Roxas poked his head over his cubicle to look into Axel's.

"Aww...poor thing," Roxas teased. "What will you do without your Sarah?"

"Work," Axel replied, as if the answer was obvious. Roxas grinned.

"Oh please, Axel, you've been wandering around all day like a lost puppy. And since when do you work, anyway?"

"I managed without her before I met her, didn't I?" he muttered.

"Hmm...I dunno," Roxas rested his chin in his arms atop the cubicle wall. "I think you need her." Need her? Axel didn't _need_ anyone. Needing someone implied that you depended on them, and Axel was certainly capable of living without anyone's help.

"Get back to work Roxas," he rolled his eyes and Roxas just smirked before disappearing back into his work space.

* * *

><p>"What are you doing with that?" Roxas asked, gesturing to the orange juice and ramen in Axel's hands.<p>

"Bringing it to Sarah," he told him, and Roxas grinned again.

"You really care about her, don't you?" It was a simple question really, but Axel wasn't quite sure how to answer it.

"Well, yeah," he cleared his throat. "She's sick and she's my girlfriend, and I want her to feel better. What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing," Roxas assured him. "It's just...you've never done anything like this for any of your other girlfriends."

"I—" for once, Axel was at a loss for words. "Uh...I don't want to keep her waiting so I'll...see you tomorrow, Roxas."

As he drove to her house, he couldn't get what Roxas had said out of his mind. He hadn't done this for any other girlfriend, that was true. But she wasn't just any other girlfriend either, he admitted to himself. And he hadn't exactly given that title to most girls, anyway. He wasn't even planning on asking Sarah out when he first met her. But that all changed and the thought of ending things with her had never really crossed his mind like it should have. All he had intended on was messing around with her for a while, but he had ended up keeping her around for several months, and here he was, going over to her house to take care of her. He sighed and pulled into the driveway. He had been over to her house a few times, but he hadn't really been inside. He hesitated before knocking on the door. A boy with a wild mass of brown hair answered it, and Axel noted that he shared the same striking blue eyes as Roxas and Sarah.

"I uh, I'm here to see Sarah," he told the younger boy, who eyed him suspiciously.

"So, you're her boyfriend then?" he asked, and Axel nodded in reply. "Alright, come in then." he shut the door behind them and extended his hand to Axel.

"I'm Sora," the boy said, shaking Axel's hand. He had a firm hand shake, just like his sister. "And if you do anything to hurt my sister, I'll be the first person to break your neck." Normally, Axel would have laughed. The scrawny kid looked like he'd be no match for him, but Axel only exhaled and asked nervously if he could see her.

"Sure," Sora was suddenly cheerful. "Down the hall, second door on the right."

"Thanks," Axel replied, heading in that direction and he was pretty sure he heard a 'you're welcome' from the boy.

"Hey..." Axel slowly opened the door to find Sarah lying in bed, propped up against several pillows. Her face lit up at the sight of him and he couldn't help but grin at her.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, sitting down beside her on the bed.

"Not too great," she told him, coughing a little. "But I'm better now that you're here." he smiled, taking her hand in his own.

"I missed you today," he murmured, leaning in to embrace her.

"Better not get too close," she reminded him, but he only shrugged.

"A cold never hurt anybody."

"People used to die from them." Right. He forgot about that.

"The point is," he laughed, tapping her on the nose. "I don't care. But hey, look what I brought you." He held up the packet of noodles.

"The good kind," she giggled.

"The good kind," he repeated with a grin. "So is it safe to make these for you or will your little brother assume that I've poisoned them?" Sarah laughed, shaking her head.

"No, it's safe," she assured him. Axel left her room for the kitchen and returned about ten minutes later with a steaming bowl of soup and a glass of orange juice.

"Here you go," he said, setting them both down on her bedside table.

"Thank you," she smiled, and Axel did as well, taking his place next to her on the bed again.

"So what did you do today?" he asked. She twirled some noodles around her fork, blowing on them in an attempt to cool them off before taking a bite.

"I slept, mostly," she replied and Axel ruffled her hair.

"I envy you," he chuckled. They talked for a while and every now and then he'd feed her bites and she'd giggle. After insisting that he didn't care if he got sick, he climbed into bed with her, putting an arm around her shoulders as she snuggled against him.

"You really are too good to me," she murmured, playing with the fabric of his shirt. She was very warm, he noticed, and it was beginning to get uncomfortably hot under the covers, but he didn't move from his position.

_No. I'm lucky to have you and I don't deserve you at all. _Axel said nothing however and leaned down to press his lips against her forehead. She smiled as her eyes drifted closed and he hadn't realized how tired he had been that day until he felt his eyelids become heavy as well.

* * *

><p>It had grown awfully quiet, Sora thought anyway. Axel had been there for quite a while and whenever he had passed by Sarah's room, there was no longer any chatter coming from inside like there had been. He didn't like to think of it as eavesdropping, he was only checking up on his sister. Letting his curiosity get the best of him, he opened her door just a crack to find them both asleep, Axel's arm draped around her shoulders and her head resting on his chest. Sora grinned to himself and closed the door behind him.<p>

_Maybe he's not so bad after all._


	13. Chapter 13

**Alright. I know the last chapter was super fluffy. I apologize in advance that this one kind of is too, and it's a bit short. But enjoy and leave a review please! c: **

Axel had assured himself that he wouldn't get attached from the beginning. And he didn't think he would, simply because it had never been a problem with other women. So he wasn't exactly sure how Sarah was currently living in his apartment. Actually, he was quite aware of how this happened. He asked her to.

Axel tried very hard to convince himself that it was because the sex was good. It was, but that wasn't the real reason at all. He just wanted to be around her all the time. Whenever she'd leave, he'd feel as though something was missing, and there was this ache in his chest that he couldn't explain. But of course, he didn't tell her that at all. It was much more simplistic and devoid of romance.

"You know," he had told her, sliding an arm around her shoulders as they sat on his couch together. "You're over here a lot." She blushed when he pointed this out and he had to resist the urge to kiss her pink cheeks. She was adorable.

"It's not a bad thing," he laughed. "I ask you to come."

"So what are you getting at?"she asked, giving him her best attempt at looking disinterested.

"All I'm saying is, it might be easier if you just moved in with me."

And that was that. She agreed, of course, and while Axel realized he was making a rather reckless decision, he didn't regret it either. In fact, he enjoyed having her around more often. It was comforting waking up with her beside him, and sometimes he'd find her still asleep with her arms around him.

She was endlessly fascinating with her strange little habits. She sang, a lot. He would hear her in the shower, or humming to herself around the house, and while Axel wasn't exactly a fan of singing, he enjoyed listening to her and became used to hearing her voice occupy his apartment. But he had to adjust to Demyx. He knew they were best friends, but he wasn't exactly prepared to come home to him sitting in the living room with Sarah, his guitar in his lap. They had been in the middle of a song the first time Axel had walked in and they both stopped, Demyx looking rather guilty, as if Axel had discovered them kissing instead of singing.

"Uh, hey Demyx," Axel greeted awkwardly.

"Hey, Axel..." he coughed and looked down at his lap, twiddling his thumbs. Axel sighed, taking a seat across from them. When they both looked a little confused, he waved his hand, letting them know he wanted them to continue.

"Oh! Um, do you think we should just start over?" she seemed nervous as though she thought Axel had never heard her sing before. He didn't think she had anything to worry about, he liked her voice. Demyx nodded and began strumming notes on the guitar and Axel was pretty surprised when a smooth voice flowed out of him. He knew Demyx was musically inclined but hadn't expected him to sing as well as he did. Axel had never heard the song before but he was rather impressed with the way their voices blended as they harmonized, the sound filling the apartment. Demyx coming over soon became a frequent occurrence, and he would often bring his guitar and Axel would hear even more songs he didn't know, due to Demyx's rather obscure taste in music. And while Demyx was certainly not _Axel's _best friend, he had to admit that they sounded great together. When Sarah became more comfortable with singing in front of him, she began to try to get him to sing with her, but Axel would always insist that she didn't want that and he liked listening much better than joining in.

There were other things he liked to help her with though. He liked to help her cook sometimes, though it would often end in disaster. But other times, they'd make a decent, edible meal and didn't have to find food elsewhere. But none of that mattered to him. He just liked spending time with her, and if that meant burning dinner, then he was alright with that.

He was finding that he always wanted to touch her. He often had to restrain himself from touching her face or running his fingers through her hair. He didn't really understand these urges and he didn't usually act on them. But after a night together, he'd let her rest her head on his bare chest and he'd play with her hair or brush his fingertips across her skin. And then she'd smile up at him, the one that got him every time, and before either of them knew what was happening, they'd be at it again. Axel felt like he couldn't ever get enough of her, and that worried him considerably.

"Axel, what are you doing?" Rachel asked.

"I'm working, what does it look like I'm doing?" Axel rolled his eyes and Rachel took a seat next to him on the couch as he typed on his laptop.

"No, I mean, what are you doing?" She gestured to a pile of Sarah's clothes on the floor and Axel shrugged.

"Those are Sarah's. She's living with me."

"I know that, Axel. But you know, I think she really cares about you. So I hope that your intentions aren't anything but pure. But, then again, it is you we're talking about here."

But for once, Axel honestly knew that his intentions were entirely pure.


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey guys! I know it's been a while, but here it is! Last cute 'n happy chapter before things start getting complicated. Enjoy, and leave a review, please! c: **

"Wait a sec..." Axel said, furrowing his brow. "You want to what?"

"I want to play video games with you," Sarah repeated slower, slightly irked.

"So...you don't want me to take you out to an expensive restaurant?"

"No."

"You don't want me to take you shopping or something?"

"No! Dammit Axel, I know what I said!" she cried, exasperated. "I just want to stay in, order food and play video games all night." Axel wondered if he was dreaming.

"Are you sure? 'Cause I mean, I could take you on a real date."

"What, you want to do something else? I thought you'd like that, too."

"No, no, I do! I'm just..." Axel rubbed the back of his neck. "Surprised." Sarah grinned.

"You think I don't like video games just because I'm a girl?" She teased. "How sexist of you."

"So...there isn't a catch?" he asked, waiting for her to make a demand. She rolled her eyes, shaking her head and Axel smirked.

"You're on, then."

* * *

><p>She really wasn't kidding. Sarah had stopped by Sora's on the way home from work and picked up the Nintendo 64 and a bunch of games. Combined with that and what Axel already had, they really were going to be busy for quite a while.<p>

"So what do you want to start with?" Sarah asked after they had ordered a pizza.

"Black Ops?" Axel suggested with a grin. Sarah groaned. "What?"

"I'm awful," she laughed. "But we can still play. As long as we get to do zombies, too." Axel shrugged.

"I'm down."

She was right, Axel noticed. She really was terrible. He let her kill him a few times to make her feel a little better, and she'd managed to do it on her own once or twice. There really wasn't much of a challenge though, so they decided to call it quits after a few rounds. Soon after, the pizza arrived and Sarah decided to answer the door. Axel didn't like the way the delivery boy was ogling her, so after she'd handed him a twenty, he curtly told the kid to keep the change and slammed the door in his face. Sarah gave him a puzzled look.

"What was up with that?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Nothing," he said quickly. "So what do you want to play?" She picked out Diddy Kong racing and they took a seat on the floor together, Axel's arms on either side of her as she sat between his legs, leaning back against him. They raced a few times, but quickly got tired of it and switched to Mario Party and then went through a few more games.

"Okay, last one," Sarah said, holding up Super Smash Brothers. Axel had lost count how many games they'd been played, and the both of them had somehow eaten an entire pizza.

"If I win, you have to take me to see the Avengers tomorrow." Oh, so she was going to play like that, huh? So could he.

"Alright, and if I win, we have sex." Sarah stared at him with an are-you-serious expression. "What? We haven't in a while!"

"Okay...best two out of three?" Axel agreed. Unfortunately, Sarah was much better at this game than she was at Call of Duty and he watched in frustration as Link knocked Fox off the edge.

"I let you do that," he muttered.

"Sure," she smirked up at him. "We'll see about that." Her cockiness did not last long however, as Axel won the next round, barely. They came to the last round and ended up with sudden death, but once again Axel prevailed and he grinned triumphantly.

"I win," he said. "You know what that means, right?" She tried to crawl away, giggling, but Axel was faster and he pinned her to the floor with a smirk. "My, my, this is a rather compromising position, don't you think?" He leaned down, pressing his mouth hungrily to hers, pleased to find that she responded with the same enthusiasm.

"How's that?" he whispered, pulling away. Her face was thoroughly flushed and Axel took it as a good sign, scooping her up in his arms, carrying her back to the bedroom.

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><p>A few hours later, they laid under the covers together, breathless. Axel slid an arm around her shoulders and she wrapped her arms around him, resting her head on his chest.<p>

"Do you still wanna go to see the Avengers tomorrow?" He asked, running his fingers through her hair.

"Yeah," she smiled up at him and he returned it, giving her a light kiss.

"Then we'll go," he said. She looked pleased at this and they enjoyed a comfortable silence for a few moments.

"Hey Axel?"

"Yeah?"

"You do know you don't have to beat me at a video game for us to have sex, right?" He laughed as he looked down at her in his arms.

"I know, but I don't mind," he grinned.


	15. Chapter 15

**Oh man. I hated writing this chapter. But there had to be conflict eventually! It couldn't be sunshine and rainbows forever! I'd say enjoy but... :c Leave a review, please. **

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><p>Originally, Axel brushed off Roxas's teasing as nothing. However, that was only until he'd made his most recent claim, one that Axel wanted to deny but found that he couldn't.<p>

"Just admit it, Axel, you're in love with her." And he had absolutely nothing to say to that, causing Roxas's grin to widen. No, he couldn't be. Love was stupid, wasn't it? It was for pansies. Axel wasn't a pansy. But the more he thought about it, the more it seemed possible, much to his dismay. She was in his thoughts constantly, and he would do anything for her. If he wasn't going insane before, he certainly was now. He wasn't really sure when the realization had come to him; it just sort of did. And he dreaded it with every fiber of his being. He _was_ in love. With her. He'd never been 'in love' with anyone. Of course he knew that. What he'd been trying so hard to avoid seemed inevitable now.

_ Am I supposed to…tell her? _He figured that's how it worked. He didn't want to though, what if she didn't feel the same way? And to think he had been worried about her falling for him. There were so many things that he'd never had to worry about before. How was he even supposed to go about saying it? Sarah wasn't home yet, so he still had some time to think about it. He'd never cared for one person so much before in his life and that scared him out of his wits. And before he could even fully piece his thoughts together, she walked into the apartment. He looked at her and all of the fear just seemed to melt away as she smiled.

"Hey," she greeted. He stood up to meet her as she walked into his arms. She sighed and then fell limply against his chest.

"Long day?" he asked. She nodded in response and he chuckled, kissing her on top of her head. She giggled as he pulled her back onto the couch with him. As they laid together on the couch in silence, Axel wondered if this would be the right moment to say it. She buried her face in his neck as he held her close.

"Axel?" she finally said. There went the moment.

"Hmm?"

"Why did you ask me out?" Oh God. Now was not the time for this. He tried not to let his tension show as he answered.

"Because I thought you were the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen." She looked up at him, cracking a smile at his words.

"No, really."

"Really," he said. He wasn't lying. That part was kind of true. She laughed, giving him a playful shove as she did.

"Axel, I'm being serious, I want to know."

"I don't know...why are you asking?" He answered hesitantly. Clearly, this was not the right response. Her eyes narrowed and she sat up, crossing her arms.

"Hey..." he sat up next to her. "I was just kidding..." She sighed.

"It's just..." he looked at her, waiting for her to continue. "Well, people have always said that you were only trying to get in my pants, and I just wanted to know that they were wrong." Oh, shit. He was always hoping this wouldn't come up. He rubbed the back of his neck, looking in the other direction.

"They were, weren't they?"

"Well...yes...and no..." He really didn't want to tell her the truth, but if he loved her, he had to be honest, right? He clenched his eyes shut, preparing for the worst.

"Are you serious?" He'd never seen her angry before, but she certainly was now. "You used me?"

"No!" he exclaimed, but she only glared at him. "Well, maybe it started out that way, but—"

"Wow," she laughed mirthlessly. "You really are an asshole." Axel winced. He probably did deserve that one, but he couldn't let it end like this.

"Look, I can't lie to you, but things have changed and—"

"Save it," she cut him off again. She looked close to tears now, and all he wanted to do was hold her close like he had been only moments ago. But she stood up and began walking away, toward the bedroom. He caught up to her quickly, his hand on her shoulder.

"Please, listen," he pleaded. _God, I sound pathetic._

"To what?" She yelled. "I trusted you, and you took advantage of me! I am not some plaything that you can just mess around with when you're bored."

"I know that!" Axel could hear his own voice raising as well. "But if you would just stop being a bitch and listen to me..." he instantly regretted his choice of words.

"You really have the nerve to say that _I'm_ the one being a bitch? I'm not the one who manipulates people for my own enjoyment." _Ouch._ Stunned and hurt, he stood motionless as she passed by him, slamming the bedroom door shut. He could hear her crying inside and tried the handle, finding that she locked it.

"Sarah...babe, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it," he apologized, leaning against the door. But she wouldn't answer him. He waited for her to come out, but when it was clear she wasn't going to, he moved back to the living room, slumping on the couch and resting his head in his hands. All he could think about was how much of an idiot he was. About an hour later, she emerged, carrying a suitcase.

"Where are you going?" he asked weakly.

"Anywhere but here."

"Please, don't..."

"Nothing you say is going to make me stay here," she said firmly. "We're through, Axel."

"Fine!" He yelled. "You were a waste of time anyway!" Her lower lip trembled. She looked genuinely hurt and he hated himself for saying something else he didn't mean.

"I hate you!" She screamed, tears streaming down her face.

"Good, I hate you too!" And with that, she was gone, slamming the front door behind her.

"God damn it..." he groaned to no one in particular. He kicked the coffee table in anger, but only found that this hurt and uttered a string of curses. When the throbbing in his toe had stopped, he sat in the overwhelming silence of his once again empty apartment. He had ruined the only good thing in his life with his temper. But he guessed they were doomed from the very beginning, because he was in fact, an asshole.

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><p><strong>POOR BABIES D: <strong>


	16. Chapter 16

**So I wrote this chapter a while ago, and recently added some stuff in that I wasn't originally planning on when I started writing this story...but I saw Les Misérables and got some love triangle feels and this was the result. I hope it fits okay. Poor Dem Dem. It's okay, bby. I love you. And I know this one is pretty short, sorry D: Don't be afraid to leave a review!**

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><p>Demyx groaned from the couch. He didn't remember falling asleep and he wasn't sure why someone was knocking at his door at three in the morning. He tried to ignore the sounds coming from outside his apartment, but when the knocks became louder and more desperate sounding, he dragged himself off the couch, grumbling to himself as he made his way to the door. As he opened it, whatever snide remark he had prepared died in the back of his throat and was replaced by a lump at the sight of his best friend looking absolutely pitiful, streaks of mascara staining her cheeks. He didn't know exactly what happened, but he had a pretty good idea. But Demyx did not say, "I told you so," or lecture her about how she should have listened. Instead, he wordlessly opened his arms to her and she ran to him, wrapping her arms around his waist tightly. His heart was nearly breaking with each sob, but he did his best to soothe her, holding her as she cried, stroking her hair and murmuring, "it's okay, it's okay," in her ear, even though he knew it wasn't.<p>

When she had calmed down a bit, Demyx led her to the couch. "Do you wanna talk about it?" he asked softly. When she shook her head, he just smiled. "Okay, I'll be right back." Minutes later, he returned with a wet washcloth and knelt down beside her, using it to wipe away what was left of her eye makeup.

"You know, you can...tell me you were right, Demyx." he sighed, taking a seat next to her on the couch.

"I could," he agreed. "But I won't. Do you know why?" She shook her head and he took her hands in his. "Because I love you, that's why," he said, giving her hands a gentle squeeze. Sarah managed a small smile and a quiet, "I love you too," through watery eyes.

"Yeah, you made a mistake. But everyone does, and that's okay." He tucked some of her hair behind her ear. "And Axel's a jerk. A jerk that doesn't deserve a woman that's as beautiful, smart, and wonderful as you are." She tried to smile again, but the end result was only more crying. He pulled her close again, rubbing her back as she buried her face in his shoulder. His shirt was soaked, but he didn't mind.

Demyx wanted nothing more than to make her happy, so whenever she had stopped crying, he brought her a bowl of ice cream and let her pick out a movie, allowing her to stay for the night. It was nice to hear her laugh a little throughout the movie, but she still didn't sound quite like herself. At some point, she had fallen asleep, lying against Demyx's chest. He didn't want to disturb her, so he stayed there with her, his arm still draped around her shoulders. He didn't even care about finishing the movie. For now, this...was enough. He was close to her and that's all that he wanted. He knew that was selfish, though.

Every now and then she would mutter Axel's name in her sleep with a furrowed brow, and Demyx would frown. He didn't know what he had done to her, but he was an idiot for hurting her. He wished that he could have prevented this somehow, that he could have protected her.

_I wouldn't have hurt her like this._ If she were his, he wouldn't have hurt her at all. It was pathetic really, he would do anything for her and she was completely oblivious to all of it. Every time he told her he loved her, he meant it in an entirely different way than she did. When he had said Axel didn't deserve her, he meant every word. But nice guys finish last, and that principle had certainly proved itself. She had chosen to be with a man that could never care about her the way that he did, and there was nothing he could do about it. Even now, it was painfully clear who she wanted to be with.

So, he'd be whatever she needed. And right now what she needed was a friend. Not a boyfriend. It would be extremely insensitive of him to try anything, and he wasn't going to do anymore damage than what had already been dealt.

But even though it was a little bit selfish of him, he was going to enjoy this while it lasted. He wrapped his arms around her and she subconsciously snuggled close to him. He smiled at how absolutely adorable it was and rested his chin on top of her head, running his fingers through her soft hair, placing kisses on her forehead, things he wished he could do when she was awake. And the second morning came, Demyx knew it was back to being her best friend, back to pretending that he didn't have feelings for her. He tightened his hold. Maybe if he weren't such a coward, this situation could have turned out differently. But then again, maybe not. There was no way she would ever see anything in him, and why would she?

The only thing that could possibly give him more satisfaction than being with her was kicking Axel's ass. And that was one thing he wasn't afraid to do.

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><p><strong>So much angst...this almost makes me wish Demyx was the love interest instead...<strong>

**Demyx: Me too.**

**IT'S OKAY, YOU CAN BE MY LOVE INTEREST**

**You know, now that I think about it, Demyx is like Eponine here. They would be so perfect. Demyx/Eponine. I ship it. Even though it's pretty much impossible. **


	17. Chapter 17

**Well, we are nearing the end dearies. Sorry it's still so angsty. But thank you for all the follows and favorites, it means a lot! Still, reviews are nice. c; enjoy! Oh yeah, Orangen influenced a bit of this chapter, so you should check her stuff out! :D **

"Axel, you have to get out of your apartment," Roxas spoke firmly from the other line. Honestly, Axel was surprised he had called in the first place, considering.

"I will." he wasn't sure if he meant that or not. Roxas sighed impatiently.

"If you don't, I will drag you out of there myself. You can only have so many sick days, you know. You can't avoid her forever." That's exactly what Axel wished he could do. He felt terrible. He hadn't left his apartment for days and was currently suffering from a really bad hangover. He could feel the beginnings of a beard as he ran a hand over his face and flinched as he touched his bruised jaw. Demyx had punched him, right in the face, and Axel had been avoiding work since; not because he was afraid of Demyx, but because what had happened reminded him of how he had hurt her. Axel had been standing alone in the copy room when Demyx had walked up to him, looking beyond pissed. And that's when it happened. He drew back his hand and the next thing Axel knew, his fist had made contact with his face. Hard. Axel was too stunned that Demyx even had the capacity to hit someone to retaliate, and he figured he probably deserved it anyway. But boy, did that kid pack a punch. Who knew?

"I swear to God, if you so much as step near her ever again, you are going to be in a world of pain," he growled, holding Axel by the collar of his shirt. "That's a promise." he released him and Axel was shocked yet again. That was the first time he had ever seen Demyx angry. And then he remembered why Demyx was angry in the first place, and the pain in his jaw no longer seemed significant. He left work claiming he didn't feel well and hadn't been back since. Axel rubbed his bruise at the memory.

"I thought you'd be pissed at me," he said, changing the subject.

"I am," Roxas said. "But I'm not sure if I'm more pissed at you for holing yourself up like this or doing exactly what I told you not to." Axel knew what he was referring to and remained silent.

"I'm coming over after work." And with that, Roxas hung up. Sure enough, a few hours later, Roxas entered the apartment, not even bothering to knock.

"If you really didn't want visitors, you'd lock the door," Roxas smirked. Axel didn't even bother to come up with a witty response. Roxas sighed and walked over to the couch where Axel had been seated since he got off the phone. He was watching TV, but only seemed to be staring blankly at the screen.

"You look terrible."

"Gee, thanks Roxas," the redhead grumbled. He knew he was only telling the truth though. He hadn't bothered to shave in a week and couldn't remember the last time he had slept for an entire night. Roxas silently took a seat beside him.

"Look, I know you're upset," he began. Upset was a bit of an understatement, Axel thought. "But you can't keep doing this." he gestured to the empty bottles strewn about on the floor. "And you really need to take a shower." Axel let out a sigh of irritation, holding his head in his hands.

"Okay," he finally said. Roxas grinned.

"Good, let's start by cleaning this place up."

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><p>Sarah had moved back in with her brother, but had been spending considerably more time with Demyx than she had previously. He knew this was her way of coping, seeking out male companionship after suffering from a breakup. He didn't mind. He was doing whatever he could for her. Sometimes she would cry a little bit, but mostly, she just touched him more often, holding his hand or cuddling with him. He certainly didn't mind that, but he hoped he wasn't just her replacement.<p>

"Sarah?" he said to her one evening as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Yeah?" she looked up at him questioningly.

"I'm not Axel." She smiled and then placed a kiss on his cheek.

"I know. I'm not asking you to be." Demyx smiled with relief as she laid her head in his lap. He began playing with strands of her hair until she fell asleep. He liked how affectionate they had become with each other, but at the same time, she had no idea what it was doing to him.

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><p>She completely ignored him at work. If they happened to pass by each other, she would act as though he wasn't even there. He couldn't ignore her. He was always looking at her and noticed that even when she laughed, she still seemed sad. He wondered if she ever glanced at him when he wasn't looking and noticed that he was sad, too.<p>

Axel almost wished she would give him dirty looks or something, anything was better than this. It was as if they never even knew each other and that was more than he could bear. There was no way she could pretend nothing had happened in the past six months. Even he couldn't do that.

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><p>Sarah was glad that she and Rachel were still friends, despite what had occurred between her and her brother. She actually frequently mentioned that she was pissed he did that to her, but not before she had said, "I told you so." Well, she certainly was honest, and honesty was the best policy she supposed. It was nice to have another girl to hang out with. She loved spending time with Demyx, but she enjoyed doing girly things sometimes. Rachel would often take her shopping; sometimes for clothes, other times for books. And other times they would just talk or play video games together. She was grateful for it, it took her mind off of Axel. As much as she wanted to hate him, she couldn't. He was all she could ever think about and she missed him more than she would care to admit. She mentioned this to Rachel and she only stared at her for a moment.<p>

"I think you need to meet some new guys," she finally said.

"Oh, no," Sarah protested. "I'm fine, I really don't—"

"Sarah, you've been moping over my brother for a month. I know plenty of cute guys that would be more than happy to meet you."

"I couldn't," she said quietly. Rachel looked at her sympathetically, slinging an arm around her shoulders.

"I'm not saying you have to end up with any of them. I just think it'd be good for you to get to know someone new." Reluctantly, she agreed and Rachel grinned.

"Alright, we're going out this weekend, then." Sarah still didn't look thrilled, causing Rachel to frown. "It's going to be fun! You can flirt again! With whoever you want! And I'm going to help you look sexy!"

"Well...that does sound nice," she admitted.

"Of course it does!" Rachel beamed. "I'm brilliant."

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><p>"Y'know, you'd probably feel better after a casual hook up," Xigbar commented in the break room one day.<p>

"Excuse me?" Though Axel and Xigbar were coworkers, they hardly ever conversed.

"I dunno, man," Xigbar said. "You just seem pretty down lately after that whole thing with Sarah." Axel groaned. Everyone around the office knew about the breakup. Aside from a select few though, no one knew the details of what had happened, thankfully.

"Hey," Xigbar raised his hands defensively. "All I'm saying is it might be nice to just bang some chick, no strings attached. Or more than one." Axel stared at him incredulously. Wow. What a way with words. He didn't even want to grace that with an answer.

"Has anyone ever told you how stupid you are?" Xigbar chuckled.

"Maybe on a few occasions," he grinned. "Look dude, don't be so uptight." He slapped a hand on Axel's shoulder and he glanced down at it, highly uncomfortable with Xigbar touching him.

"I just got out of a serious relationship, and you expect me to just 'bang some chick'?"

"Why not? You need to get back on your feet again, go out and enjoy all the...'possibilities.'" Xigbar snickered at his own word choice and Axel rolled his eyes in disgust. When it was clear Axel was not amused, Xigbar tried to piece his words together more carefully.

"I just think you need a distraction, get your mind off all of this. Something you don't even really have to think about. Do all the things you were missing out on when you were in a relationship." Fortunately, Xigbar took his leave after this. It actually wasn't a bad idea. But he wasn't so sure it was what he wanted. He wanted her back. But she wouldn't return his calls, and she wouldn't even look at him. This was obviously going nowhere.

So, maybe once wouldn't hurt. He didn't even know if he could do it anymore, really. Pick up a girl without a second thought, without any regards to her feelings...the idea almost made him sick. Only once though...maybe it would help him forget, at least for a little while.

Axel scoffed. It was only a temporary solution. Alcohol made him forget, too. It also gave him a massive headache. Could that be a metaphor of some kind? Hell if he knew. Or if he cared.

_You know what, maybe I will. _He was tired of being miserable, and even if it was just for the weekend, he wouldn't be.


	18. Chapter 18

**Well, only two more chapters left! This chapter was written in present tense, I thought it seemed to flow better that way. It'll be the only one like this. I know it's kind of weird, but I mean, we**'**re reading a book for class that switches from first person past tense, to third person present tense, to third person past tense. So, it can't be that bad. All this angst though. Things are gonna start looking up soon, I hope you'll stick around to see it. Leave a review, please. c: **

Of course the destination Rachel chooses for the weekend is a party. It's a house party, but Sarah isn't sure whose house it is. Rachel had promised to make her friend look sexy, and she certainly did. She feels uncomfortable with the men staring at her and wishes she wasn't here. She wants to be home. She catches the eye of a redheaded man that Rachel is talking with. Suddenly, he asks her a question while looking in her direction, and Rachel looks too. She answers and returns to her friend.

"There's someone that wants to meet you," she says with a grin. Reluctantly, Sarah rises from her seat on the couch and follows her.

"Hello there," the man says with a smirk. His smugness reminds her of another redhead she knows. Rachel is no longer anywhere to be found. Of course.

"Hello," she replies with a smile. He returns it and she wonders how Rachel manages to end up with so many attractive friends. "You're Sarah, aren't you?" she nods and he extends his hand.

"I'm Reno." He doesn't break eye contact as he firmly grasps her hand and it sends chills through her.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," she manages. Her knees are weak. The last time she felt like this was...well, she doesn't want to think about it.

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><p>Axel does not want to be here at all. He's not even sure why he's doing this as he glances around the restaurant. It's fancy and he's wearing a suit and it's stuffy. Oh yeah, he was trying to avoid being miserable, though it seems this situation has caused him to be nothing but.<p>

"Were you even listening to me?" a shrill voice interrupts his thoughts and he is reminded the source of his misery. He'd rather be wallowing in self pity and drinking himself to death than be on a date with Larxene. And yet here he was. He must have been drunk whenever he had asked her out. It's not as though Larxene is unattractive; she's very pretty. It's her personality that's terrible. Demyx is absolutely terrified of the woman and Axel cannot blame him.

"Ah, sorry," Axel flashes her a dazzling smile and it's clear from the look on her face that she's forgiven him. Luckily he seems to have that effect on people. However, as the evening progresses he's not listening to a word she's saying. He steals a glance at her chest but there's not much to look at. Axel wonders how he used to be able to do this. It's exhausting, pretending that he's interested in what she's talking about when really, he hasn't a clue what she's said. Did he used to do this all the time? He must have, because he can't remember the names of most of the girls he slept with. Except one.

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><p>Sarah spends most of the party talking with Reno. They sit on the couch together and she notices he has gradually been moving closer to her; their knees are touching. He makes her nervous. She doesn't know if it's a good or bad nervous though. She blushes as he plays with a strand of her hair.<p>

"You're pretty cute, you know that?" he has that perfect smirk on his face again as he brushes his fingers through her hair and rests his hand on the back of her head, subtly pulling her in towards him and her breath catches as he grins.

"Relax." And before she even has a chance to respond, his mouth is upon her, the warmth caressing her lips. He places his other hand on her thigh, roaming across her skin as he kisses her. It's slow and sensual and when he finally pulls away, she feels dizzy.

"There's an empty room upstairs," he whispers suggestively, and all she can do is nod numbly.

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><p><em>Maybe this is when it gets good. <em>Axel has taken Larxene back to his apartment. It's clear that she knows what his motives are, but she seems to be dragging it out anyway. Axel just wants to get it over with. After rambling and briefly glancing around the apartment, she finally makes her way over to him in her little black dress. She's swaying her hips as she walks and under different circumstances, Axel would think it was sexy. But all he wants is for _her _to be back in his apartment, not Larxene. She smirks as she leans in toward him and he manages one back.

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><p>Reno locks the door behind him and her heart begins pounding in her chest. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. But her mind shuts down whenever he presses his lips to hers again. He certainly knows what he's doing. He guides her to the bed and she's suddenly <em>very <em>nervous when she realizes what's happening as he kneels above her. It's dark, but she really sees him for the first time. He looks just like him; pale skin, long, untamed, red hair and piercing green eyes. This is probably the only reason she's agreed to do this. But the similarities end there. He's assertive, but his touch is more gentle than Axel's. Reno is a perfect gentleman and is not too aggressive with her; every touch and every kiss is deliberate, it's obvious that he's experienced in this category. His hair is soft when she touches it and he lowers his mouth to her neck. She becomes apprehensive when he brings his hand around her back to unzip her dress. He notices her tension and stops what he's doing.

"Are you okay?" he asks. She's grateful that he's sensitive enough to care how she feels about this. She isn't okay. This man is not Axel, he is a complete stranger and she's upset that she even let things get this far. But Axel doesn't care about her anyway, so why does it matter? Besides, he's probably having sex with some woman at this very moment. So she tells him she's fine, even though she isn't.

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><p>This all feels oddly rehearsed, and Larxene is much more into it than he is. She isn't anything like her. For starters, she's blonde, but there are many more differences than that. Axel is the one being dominated this time. With her, he was always the one to initiate things, but he liked it better that way. So now he's slightly uncomfortable. Larxene is being so rough it almost hurts. Sarah's kisses were always so soft and it was the same whenever she would touch him. Axel is only halfheartedly kissing her back and lazily tracing his hands over what little curves she has. When she begins unbuttoning his shirt, he stops her, realizing what he's doing and that he doesn't want it at all.<p>

"I'm sorry," he mutters. "I can't do this." She's pissed. Axel doesn't care.

"Are you serious?" she hisses. He nods.

"You should probably go." She argues that he was the one who picked her up and drove her here, but he tells her to take a cab or something. It doesn't matter to him, he just wants her to leave. He knows work is going to be even more awkward now, but the thought doesn't bother him. Finally, she's gone and Axel sits alone in his dark room, his face in his hands, hoping Sarah isn't nearly as miserable as he is.

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><p>Reno is dressing himself as Sarah sits on the bed, the comforter pulled up to her chest, hiding her body. She knows it doesn't matter, he's already seen her naked, but she somehow feels more exposed and vulnerable now and she doesn't want him to see her. When Reno is fully dressed, he gives her a peck on the cheek, leaving the room without a word. She feels dirty and there's an unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach. She curls up under the covers, drawing her knees up to her chest as she faces the wall. She hates herself for going through with it. She doesn't even know Reno and yet she shared an intimacy with him that only should occur between two people that really care for each other. This meant absolutely nothing to Reno. He got what he wanted from her and now he was gone without so much as a goodbye. At least Axel stuck around for a while. She feels a tear escaping her eye and she can't hold it in anymore. She doesn't know exactly how long she cries before the door opens just a crack.<p>

"Sarah?" It's Rachel. "Reno told me you'd be up here so..." When she doesn't respond, she comes into the room. Sarah rolls over to look at her as she sits next to her on the bed.

"Are you okay?" Sarah can hear the concern in her voice. She shakes her head and Rachel looks at her with worry and pity when she notices her tear stained face.

"Come on," she says gently. "Get dressed and I'll get you out of here." She gives her privacy to put her dress back on and then guides her down the stairs, the two of them slipping out of the party. Sarah is silent the whole ride home and Rachel doesn't pry. She gives her a hug when she drops her off, promising she can call any time she needs anything. Sarah manages a quiet thank you and heads back inside, hoping Sora isn't still awake. Much to her dismay, he is and he goes to greet her. Suddenly, he notices how sad his sister looks and it seems like he might be on the verge of tears as well. The younger boy envelops her in his arms.

"I love you, okay?" he whispers. She holds him tighter. Despite the events of the past month and the ones of this evening, hearing that is enough. She knows she's going to be okay as long as she has him.

"I love you too Sora. I love you so much."


	19. Chapter 19

**One more chapter after this one guys. One. More. This will be the first multi-chapter story I have ever finished haha. I don't really know what I'm going to do once I'm finished with it...maybe I'll try one of those 100 theme challenges. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this! There's not much left to do other than tie up some loose ends. Please leave a review, I mean it's almost over so you don't really have many chances left...just saying. Well, here we go! c: **

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><p>It had been two months. Two long months without her. It was already well into December, but Axel was finding it difficult to get into the Christmas spirit. Even a week off from work didn't seem all that appealing. His encounter with Larxene had shown him that he wasn't going to spend his vacation the way that he used to. So, now what? He stared blankly at his computer screen as he mulled it over. Day before break and he had no clue how to spend it.<p>

_Well, I haven't put up the tree yet, so there's that._ Putting the lights on was so annoying though, and the tree itself was an overall hassle. But she would have loved helping with that. Thinking about how excited and focused she would have been brought a smile to his face. She'd probably get tangled up or trip over the lights or something though...

"You know, she's leaving," Roxas mentioned casually, leaning over into Axel's cubicle.

"Huh?" He snapped out of his day dream to look at Roxas. Right, just wishful thinking, he reminded himself.

"She's leaving," he repeated a little slower. Axel opened his mouth to question but Roxas interrupted.

"Don't ask who," he said. "You know exactly who I'm talking about."

"You mean..." Axel was suddenly filled with dread. She couldn't, she hadn't said anything to anyone and Xemnas would have—

"I mean she's going back to Destiny Islands, where she's from."

"For good? How do you know?"

"Our family had our Christmas thing over the weekend, she was talking about it with some relatives," Roxas explained. He seemed oddly calm about all of this.

"When?" he asked, panicked. If she left, there was no chance of getting her back now.

"Today," Roxas replied. It still didn't seem to bother him.

"Why did you wait to tell me?!" Axel hissed.

"I'm telling you now, aren't I?" Roxas grinned. "Her plane leaves in thirty minutes. Go get her." Axel didn't need telling twice and rose from his office chair, hurriedly putting on his coat.

"I'll cover for you," Roxas promised. "Good luck, Axel."

"Thanks," he smiled nervously. "I need it." By the time he got in his car, he had about 25 minutes left. It took at least fifteen to get to the airport from work. He could make it ten if he sped. This was crazy. He had no idea what he was going to say to her, but he wasn't ready to give her up just yet. He clenched the steering wheel. He couldn't give her up. He knew what two months were like without her and was unwilling to find out what forever was like. So, that was his incentive. There was little parking space, and while Axel wasn't exactly athletic, he kept her in his mind as he ran from his car to the inside of the airport.

"I need a flight to Destiny Islands," he gasped when he had reached the ticket desk. 1:15. He still had time, barely. He paled when the woman behind the counter gave him the price.

"How much?" he asked weakly. The woman raised her eyebrows.

"You gonna buy one or not, Prince Charming?" she snapped, flicking her long black hair over her shoulders. Sighing, Axel reluctantly handed her his credit card. If this thing with Sarah didn't work out, he was going to be broke _and _miserable.

"Better hurry," she said, handing him his plane ticket and his card. "Flight's leaving in ten minutes." Unfortunately for him, there was still the hassle of security. Luckily, Axel was rather empty handed and the moment he was through being searched, he bolted for the plane. All of the passengers looked up as he boarded, and he couldn't blame them for staring. He was still trying to catch his breath and was sweating quite a bit. He couldn't tell if it was because he was nervous or if it was from running.

"Axel?" He knew that voice anywhere. It was the first time it had spoken his name in months. He turned and met her gaze as she rose from her seat. He wanted to run to her, to hold her again, but it was obvious she wasn't quite as happy to see him as he was to see her. But he made his way over to her anyway, barely making it through the aisle between the seats.

"Sarah, I—"

"What the hell are you doing here?" she demanded, her blue eyes narrow.

"I came to see you," he said, and she still didn't look impressed. People were definitely staring now. "Listen, I really—"

"Oh, please, I don't want to go through this again," Sarah groaned.

"I don't care!" Axel blurted. "I did not put my job at risk and almost go broke on this plane ticket for you to brush me off again!" Startled, her eyes widened for a moment, and he knew he finally had her attention.

"Sir," a cheerful, blonde flight attendant tapped him on the shoulder. "The plane is taking off soon, you need to take your seat." This wasn't getting any easier for him.

"Five minutes is all I need," he pleaded. He gave her his best sad smile and she gave in quickly.

"Well, I'll see what I can do..."

"Okay," he said, turning back to Sarah. "Just...hear me out, alright?" she sighed, crossing her arms.

"I know you're angry with me," he began. "And you have every right to be." People were still squeezing past him, despite what the flight attendant had said previously. Shit, this wasn't how it was supposed to go at all.

"You were right, I took advantage of you. But that's because I'm a dumbass, and I couldn't see what was right in front of me until I lost it."

"And...what was that?" she asked quietly.

"What a beautiful, intelligent, caring and amazing woman you are. I never should have let you go in the first place, I never should have hurt you." Axel looked down at his shoes and exhaled nervously. Here comes the hard part, he thought, looking back at her. He was going to have to swallow his pride for this. But her expression had softened and she had uncrossed her arms, and he thought it might not be as difficult now.

"I'm a mess without you," he confessed. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, and I know that you deserve so much better than me, but I can't help it, I'm selfish and I need you. A lot more than you need me. You're the first person that ever made me feel like I was worth anything, I..." he paused, glancing at the floor again, then back at her face. She looked like she was on the verge of tears now.

"I love you, and if I'm being honest, that scares the hell out of me. And I understand if you don't reciprocate, but I had to at least tell you before you left." Her facial expressions had been changing throughout his speech and now she was crying and laughing all at once. He hoped it meant he'd said something right.

"I think someone may have forgotten to mention," she paused, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. "That I'm only going away for vacation." Axel's mouth dropped open for a moment at a loss for words.

"Uh...you...?" My, this was embarrassing.

"I'm only visiting my parents," she laughed through her tears. Axel laughed with her as he plotted the death of Roxas and how he was going to make it look like an accident.

"So...where does this leave us?" Axel asked hesitantly. Sarah smiled as more tears began filling her eyes.

"Of course I love you, you dumbass!" she cried, punching him on the shoulder. Relieved, Axel broke into a grin and drew her into his arms, holding her close as she wrapped her arms around his neck, clinging to him. That was all he had needed to hear. He buried his face in her shoulder, inhaling deeply. He had missed the scent of her perfume; she always smelled nice.

"Did you just smell me?" she murmured.

"No," he responded quickly. "No I did not."

Suddenly, there was applause and others grumbling for them to get a room. Axel had completely forgotten they were in public and didn't even care. Sarah was his again and that's all that mattered. She pulled back for a moment to look up at him and he grinned down at her.

"We should probably...sit down now," he said. She laughed, nodding as he wiped her tears away. They still needed to talk about this more in depth, but he knew they had to save it for later. Not when there were so many others around. It was a private conversation and a touchy subject, and it would be pretty embarrassing to be dumped all over again mid-flight.

"You don't have a place to stay, do you?" she asked as they took their seats. This was also the first time Axel thought of this.

"Not exactly," he laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Looks like you're going to be meeting my parents then, lover boy," she grinned as he turned pale for the second time that day. Wasn't it a little early for that? They had gotten back together five minutes ago.

"Parents? I'm not very good with parents..." he said nervously. Hell, he hadn't even been very good with his own. He shuddered as he remembered awkward first dates in high school. Sure, he knew how to be charming, but once he'd gotten his 'reputation' they weren't always so welcoming. Especially not when most of those relationships ended badly. And dads were scary...

"Alright, well what was your other plan then?"

"I...didn't really plan that far ahead," he grinned sheepishly. "I didn't even think about what I was going to do if you didn't take me back." She blushed. There was the Sarah that he knew.

"You...really took a chance for me?" she asked, fiddling with strands of her brown hair. He tilted her chin up, grinning at her.

"Of course," he leaned in, giving her a gentle kiss. "Love makes you do crazy things." She smiled shyly and they spent the next few hours catching up or taking pictures of them making silly faces together or making fun of the cheesy movie being played. Eventually, she fell asleep, her head against his shoulder, and Axel pulled out his phone. He knew you weren't really supposed to use your phone on a plane, but he'd make it quick.

"Hey, asshole, did you forget to tell me something?" he smirked.

"You could say that," Roxas replied mischievously. "Why are you complaining anyway, you got her back, didn't you?"

"Yeah," he said, looking over at the sleeping girl beside him. "I guess some thanks are in order then, aren't they?"

"Damn right they are!" Roxas laughed. "You owe me, big time."

"Alright, alright," Axel muttered, rolling his eyes. "Hey, why _didn't _you just tell me she was going on vacation?"

"I thought you could use some motivation," he said simply. "And I like laughing at you."

"What? Hey! Roxas—" Of course by this time, Roxas had already hung up. Whatever, Axel still had to figure out how to deal with this parent situation. And he thought getting her back was the hard part.


	20. Chapter 20

**Ack! This is over a month late! :( I'm sorry, guys...well, here you have it, finally. The very last chapter. I can't believe I actually finished it...I hope you enjoy! Don't forget to review! ;) **

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><p>Axel sat on the bed in the guest room, waiting. He'd been waiting for quite a while now, actually, and he could still hear the yelling coming from the other room. Sarah had called Demyx about an hour ago, and they had been arguing since. He was angry, and really, Axel couldn't blame him. Demyx never really liked him to begin with, and Axel had given him even more of a reason not to.<p>

But that's not what bothered him; he couldn't care less what Demyx thought of him. It was pretty obvious that the younger man was head over heels for his girlfriend, and for some reason, she was totally oblivious to it. He wondered if he should tell her, but decided against it. Some things were better left unsaid. Axel still felt guilty, and if he was being honest with himself, Demyx was probably much better for her. But Sarah had chosen _him. _It was Axel she wanted to be with, not Demyx. He could hardly believe it; how she forgave him so easily...he really didn't deserve her at all. Suddenly, the shouting had stopped and Sarah's tone had softened.

"No, Demyx, you don't have to apologize...I know you're upset and that's okay." It was just like her to say something like that, he thought, smiling to himself.

"I love you too," she said quietly. He cringed. He knew the way she had meant it, but knowing the way Demyx felt made him uncomfortable. There was a long sigh before she came into the room.

"Sorry," she smiled apologetically. She sounded drained.

"Don't be." He patted the space on the bed beside him and she sat down, leaning against his shoulder.

"I hope I didn't ruin your evening," she sighed.

"Of course not!" Axel exclaimed. "It's been great." Well, other than listening to her argue on the phone. Destiny Islands was a beautiful place. He had no idea why anyone would want to leave, really, but he was glad that she did if it meant getting to meet her. Her parents had been unexpectedly welcoming, though her father was still rather intimidating. However, her mother had seemed to be a cheerful and energetic woman, and Axel assumed that's where Sora got it from.

"I don't know what you were so worried about," she grinned up at him. "My parents love you."

"I'm not so sure that applies to both of them," Axel laughed.

"Oh please," she rolled her eyes. "Dad just has a funny way of showing it. And Mom was practically begging me to marry you whenever we were making dinner." His eyebrows shot up at this. It was definitely too early to be talking about marriage.

"Relax," she giggled, shoving him lightly. "I'm not asking you to marry me. No need to get all worked up."

"What a relief," he teased, and she punched him in response. It actually kind of hurt.

"Where'd you learn to cook like that anyway?" he asked, rubbing his arm. He'd been rather surprised, what with their previous cooking disasters. Of course, he was going to eat it whether it was good or not in order to be polite, but it had actually turned out quite well.

"Well, I had to keep myself occupied somehow..." Axel winced. He knew she hadn't meant for it to, but the mood had suddenly shifted.

"I'm sorry," he said lamely, unable to come up with anything else. He looked away from her, but she placed a reassuring hand on his arm.

"I'm sorry too," she said softly. He sighed, turning back to face her.

"Sarah, you have absolutely nothing to apologize for," he told her, tucking some hair behind her ear. "I was the one that hurt you."

"But I hurt you too," she murmured, looking down at her lap.

"Look, I deserved that, okay? You had every right to be angry," he assured her. "I really would have understood if you hadn't taken me back."

"How could I not?" She smiled, and he couldn't stop the stupid grin he felt spreading across his face. He only smiled like that around her, he noticed. But he was okay with that. "I missed you so much." And that was all it took. Axel could no longer hold back the overwhelming desire to kiss her. He pulled her to him, crashing his lips against hers. Without hesitation, she slid her arms around his neck as he pressed his mouth hard against hers, laying her down on the bed. He kissed her feverishly, almost frantically. It had been too long since he had really kissed her or touched her. She seemed to realize this too, responding with a fire he'd never known she'd been withholding, entangling her fingers in his hair. A soft sound of protest alerted him to her exhaustion and he pulled away, only to trail kisses down her neck, gently biting at her soft skin.

"A-Axel," she gasped as he slipped his hand under her shirt, tracing light circles on her stomach.

"Hmm?" he replied against her skin.

"We can't—ah—"It was becoming difficult for her to speak as his hands wandered further.

"Why not?" Before she had the chance to answer, he kissed her roughly again and she moaned beneath his lips. He smirked. For one who was protesting so much, she seemed to be enjoying herself. However, she soon pulled away, gasping for air.

"My parents don't want us sleeping in the same room," she breathed.

"We won't be doing much sleeping," he chuckled. "We still need to _catch up_ properly." She shivered as he nibbled at her earlobe. He thought he'd convinced her, but she pressed her hands against his chest, gently pushing him off of her. Axel pouted and she only gave him a stern look.

"That's exactly why they don't want us sleeping in the same bed."

"You're twenty years old, you don't have to listen to everything they say you know," he huffed, crossing his arms.

"I'm still their little girl," she reminded him. "And you don't want to ruin the good impression you've made on them, do you?" She did have a point.

"No..." he muttered, feeling somewhat defeated. But suddenly, she was sitting up next to him, leaning close. Axel tensed as she placed a hand on his knee.

"Besides," she purred in his ear. "I've always wanted to 'catch up' on the beach." She closed the distance between them, her soft lips pressed against his once again. She had seemed so innocent when he'd first met her, now what the hell was this? It was becoming increasingly difficult for Axel to think as her hand slowly traveled further and further up his leg. Abruptly, she stopped, tugging at his bottom lip with her teeth before pulling away completely. Her hand was still in place on his thigh; much too close and yet frustratingly not close enough.

"Meet me on the beach in the morning if you wanna," she said with a coy smile. And with that, she left the room and Axel let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Now how was he supposed to sleep?

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><p>Demyx didn't even like drinking. Yet, here he was, spending New Year's Eve at the bar. The only person he'd want to spend it with was hundreds of miles away, with her...<em>boyfriend. <em> Her total jerk of a boyfriend, the very same that had hurt her only a few months ago. So maybe it was appropriate for Demyx to be at the bar. He could drink until he didn't think about it anymore. Just when he thought he'd built up enough courage to drink whatever was in his glass, a young woman sat down on the stool beside him.

"Get me an 'Adios Motherfucker'," she muttered.

_Ouch, looks like I'm not the only one having a rough night. _She looked like she was around his age. She was very attractive, he noticed, but a frown marred her features. He thought about talking to her, but a glance at his full glass quickly reminded him that _Demyx _did not take risks like talking to attractive strangers. But Demyx also didn't drink, and here he was, perched on a bar stool. So why the hell not?

"That doesn't really suit you," he finally spoke up.

"Excuse me?" she turned to face him, her green eyes narrow. He wondered if trying to talk to her was a mistake, now.

"That face you're making," he went on. "You're too pretty to be looking like that." Demyx quickly took a swig of his drink so that he'd have an excuse for being so bold. He frowned as the alcohol burned his throat and hoped she didn't notice it. Demyx prepared himself for the worst, but she only laughed.

"Much better," he grinned.

"What's a guy like you doing in a place like this?" she asked with a smirk. "You don't really seem like the drinking type."

"I'm not," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's just...I didn't want to be alone." She leaned against the counter, smiling sadly at him. She was very close and the thought of kissing her briefly crossed his mind, but he quickly snapped himself out of it. It was probably just the...one sip of alcohol he'd had.

"Yeah..." she sighed. "Me neither." They stared at each other in a moment of silent understanding. Neither one of them asked any questions, they just _knew._ The moment ended abruptly as people began chanting the countdown into the new year.

"5! 4! 3! 2.." _Screw it, _Demyx thought, and whenever the countdown had reached one, he leaned in, capturing her lips with his own. Besides punching Axel in the face, this was the bravest he'd ever been. He didn't even know this girl's name. But he was tired of people taking what he wanted, so if he was attracted to a woman, he was going to let her know. No more being weak and letting chances pass him by. He pulled away, and she looked rather stunned.

"I'm sorry it's just I've always wanted to do that and you seemed like you were having a bad night and I think I'm a little drunk..." Demyx knew he wasn't drunk at all, but he figured it was a good excuse. Slowly, a grin spread across her features and he stopped his rambling.

"No, it's okay," she murmured. "You can do it again if you want to." He was more than happy to oblige.

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><p>"Hey Axel!" Roxas greeted, deliberately slapping him on his very sunburned back. Being as pale as he was, the tropics had not been kind to him.<p>

"Roxas," he responded through gritted teeth.

"Did you have a nice break?" Roxas asked with a wink. He really had, other than being sunburned. Sarah's parents loved him and "catching up" on the beach had proved to be quite enjoyable. Right on cue, Sarah walked up to the both of them. Of course, she had tanned nicely, no sunburns for her.

"Good morning," she smiled, leaning up to place a kiss on Axel's cheek. He did his best to hide his wince.

"Good morning," he grinned before planting a brief kiss on her lips.

"Can you guys be disgusting somewhere else?" Roxas complained, crinkling his nose.

"Aw, he's jealous, poor thing," Sarah teased. "Do you want a kiss too, Roxas?" Despite his various protests, she managed to kiss him on the cheek, and Axel only looked on smirking as she ruffled Roxas's hair. This was how most of the day went, with everyone reuniting with each other after the break. He didn't exactly enjoy watching Demyx envelop his girlfriend in a tight bear hug, but he felt a little better when he mentioned something about meeting a girl over the break.

"Yeah, I'm taking her out to lunch later if you wanna meet her," he said, a slight blush tinting his cheeks. Of course, he'd been talking to Sarah, but Axel found himself becoming curious to the identity of the mystery woman as well. Sure enough, during lunch break, a girl showed up, and Axel couldn't help but notice that she had rather distinctive red hair.

"Hey babe," Demyx grinned, kissing her lightly as she approached him.

"Hey," she replied, snaking her arms around his waist.

_Wait a second...that voice..._Sarah and Axel both seemed to realize at the exact same moment and looked at each other in disbelief.

"Sarah, Axel, I'd like for you to meet my girlfriend..."

"Rachel?!" They both yelled simultaneously as she turned around.

"Oh...this is...slightly awkward," Rachel said.

"Wait...you guys know each other?" Demyx asked in confusion.

"Of course I know her!" Axel exclaimed. "That's my sister!"

"I would say this is more than slightly awkward," Demyx muttered, looking down expectantly at his girlfriend, who only shrugged in response. "So is it a bad time to ask if I can date your sister or..."

Axel was about to protest, but Sarah gave him a disapproving look. He closed his mouth and muttered, "Fine," in defeat. The odd couple only grinned and headed out of the office to their lunch date.

"Why didn't you let me say anything?" he demanded. "I don't want my sister dating Demyx!"

"Why not?" Axel opened his mouth to answer but she quickly interrupted. "Because he'll treat her better than any man she's ever been with?" He attempted to come up with a response, but he had no other excuse other than the tension between he and Demyx. It was true. Axel would never have to worry about him hurting his sister. If anything, it'd be the other way around.

"I know they seem like an unlikely couple, but if they're making each other happy, I think they should be together." Once again, Axel was at a loss for words. She never ceased to amaze him. Slowly, a grin spread across his features and she looked up at him, raising an eyebrow in question.

"What?"

"You're something else, you know that?" Not only had she once again proved how compassionate she was, adding another reason to the endless list of why he loved her, but her words seemed to describe their own situation. He doubted she realized that though. "How'd I get so lucky to end up with someone like you?" She smiled, a hint of pink spreading into her cheeks.

"I don't know," she smirked. "But you're stuck with me, now."

"That's perfectly alright with me," he laughed, taking her hand in his.

**~Fin**

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><p><em>I never loved nobody fully, always one foot on the ground. -<em>Fidelity, Regina Spektor

**And there ya have it folks! We finally reached the end! It took a while to get here, but it was a good run and was fun while it lasted. I hope you enjoyed as much as I did! :) Please leave a review and let me know what you thought of it. I might start something else soon, either tackle re-writing that other awful fanfiction or try one of those 100 theme challenges. Either way, don't dismay, I'm not going to disappear forever just because I finished this. (or that might make you dismay, I dunno. I'm not trying to tell you how to live your life)**


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